DEADLY BUSINESS NEWS 2013 stories

Recent stories

Europe: Do nothing Commission lets workers suffer
The European Commission (EC) appears willing to talk about the harm caused by work, but it’s wholly committed to doing nothing about it, the UK union body TUC has said. TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson warned “it does not matter what the evidence says, or how much research is done, this Commission, like this [UK] government, intends to continue to allow millions of people to have their health, and lives, ruined because of preventable illnesses caused by their work.”
TUC Stronger Unions blog • Risks 635
Hazards news, 14 December 2013

New Zealand: Hold ‘corporates’ to account for deaths
New Zealand workers who are killed on the job deserve justice, not excuses, the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) has said. “Nine forestry workers have died this year,” said Bill Newson, EPMU national secretary, adding: “If the companies they worked for caused their deaths through shoddy practices, they will never be held to account, just as Pike River Coal wasn’t.”
EPMU news release • Risks 635
Hazards news, 14 December 2013

USA: Property before safety led to firefighter deaths
An investigation has found forestry officials knowingly put protection of property ahead of safety as a fire swept across parts of Arizona in June, causing the deaths of 19 firefighters. The ruling by the state Industrial Commission came after its investigative agency, the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH), released its findings and recommended citations and financial penalties.
Arizona Republic • San Francisco Chronicle • Risks 635
Hazards news, 14 December 2013

Britain: Illegal violent gangmaster jailed for seven years
Lithuanian national Audrius Morkunas, who operated as an unlicensed gangmaster and terrorised and exploited migrant workers, has been jailed for seven years. Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) chief executive Paul Broadbent said: “I take great satisfaction from the fact that these workers are now free from his aggression and exploitation and that our investigation has resulted in a substantial custodial sentence.”
GLA news release • BBC News Online • Risks 635
Hazards news, 14 December 2013

Britain: Glue firm fined after worker is impaled on forklift
A global adhesives giant has been fined after a worker died when he was pinned against a forklift truck by a reversing lorry. Andrew Davies, 43, died following the incident in the transport yard at Mapei UK Limited in Halesowen on 1 July 2010.
HSE news release and workplace transport webpages • BBC News Online • Risks 635
Hazards news, 14 December 2013

Britain: Director’s fish tank crushed worker
A 200kg fish tank being built at a lorry trailer manufacturing firm for one of its directors toppled over, leading to a worker suffering severe injuries. Alloy Bodies Ltd was convicted of criminal safety failings after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found “the highly unusual activity” had not been planned, supervised or carried out safely.
HSE news release and workplace transport webpages • Risks 635
Hazards news, 14 December 2013

Britain: Tractor sales firm fined for worker’s injuries
An agricultural vehicle sales company has been fined after an employee received multiple skull fractures in a fall at work. Jacob Wingett, 28, was fitting a number plate to the top of a tractor cab on 1 May 2012 when he lost his balance and fell about a metre to the ground, causing serious injuries.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 635
Hazards news, 14 December 2013

Britain: Lessons of rail tragedy could be ignored
Rail union RMT has called for “constant vigilance” on safety 25 years after the Clapham Junction disaster left 35 people dead and hundreds injured. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “The tragedy is an eternal warning of what happens when staff are suffering fatigue and are operating within a culture of excessive hours and impossible demands,” adding: “25 years on from Clapham , RMT is issuing a renewed call for an end to the casualisation and zero hours contracts culture which is being rolled out across the railways by stealth and where fatigue, and a lack of clear management control, is once again being flagged up as a major issue by our members.”
RMT news release • Risks 635
Hazards news, 14 December 2013

Britain: Government says you must work until you drop
The later retirement date announced by the Chancellor in last week’s Autumn statement might be of little significance to the wealthy, but it could see many others receive little or nothing of their state pension entitlement, the TUC has warned. The union body was commenting on the plans announced in the Commons by George Osborne to push back the state pension age to 68 by the mid-2030s, with further increases after that.
Autumn Statement 2013 • TUC news release and state pension divide research • BBC News Online • Risks 635
Hazards news, 14 December 2013

Britain: Unions slam state pension push back
Unions have said expecting people to carry on longer in arduous work before they qualify for a state pension will be bad news for workers and services. The Autumn statement also includes a further £84m cut to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the government ministry responsible for the Health and Safety Executive’s budget.
UNISON news release • UCATT news release • PCS news release • Risks 635
Hazards news, 14 December 2013

Britain: Government safety policy dismissed as ‘drivel’
Ministers are misusing an official government website to push the Conservative’s party political anti-workplace safety line, the TUC has charged. The Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) safety policy webpages “set out their policy on health and safety”, notes TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson, but he adds the content “is clear, concise and simple and is also absolute drivel.”
TUC Stronger Unions blog • DWP safety policy • Risks 635
Hazards news, 14 December 2013

Italy: Migrants die in Chinese-run factory fire
At least seven people died and three were injured when a clothing factory in an industrial zone in the Italian town of Prato burned down on 1 December, trapping workers in an improvised dormitory built on the site. Local media said 11 workers had been accommodated in small cardboard sleeping compartments above a warehouse.
The Guardian • Huffington Post • Risks 634
Hazards news, 7 December 2013

Britain: Reptile friendly Crossrail squirrels away injury shame
Europe’s biggest construction project is proving a bigger hit with rodents and reptiles than humans, with accident rates on the site increasing throughout the year. The Squirrelled away on page 41 of the Crossrail Sustainability Report and not mentioned in the news release was a less flattering statistic: “As the quantity and complexity of construction activities has increased, our accident frequency rate (AFR) has risen higher than expected. This increasing trend is not acceptable to us.”
Crossrail news release and Sustainability Report • Risks 634
Hazards news, 7 December 2013

Britain: Port worker falls to his death at coal terminal
A 38-year-old port worker has fallen to his death at a coal terminal at Port of Hunterston in Scotland. HSE, which is liaising with Police Scotland, controversially dropped docks from most preventive inspections over two years ago.
STV News • Risks 634
Hazards news, 7 December 2013

Britain: Joinery director fined for criminal failings
A London joinery firm and a company director have been fined for multiple criminal safety breaches, including ignoring an official Health and Safety Executive (HSE) call for deadly risks to be remedied. Sunbeam Wood Works Ltd was fined £24,000 plus £1,460 in costs and company director Stephen Morrison was fined £8,000.
HSE news release • Risks 634
Hazards news, 7 December 2013

Britain: Acid fountain sees chemical firm in court
An international chemical company has been prosecuted after three workers suffered acid burns when pipework at its plant near Southampton ruptured, sending a jet of sulphuric acid 20 metres into the air. Polimeri Europa UK Ltd, part of one of Europe’s largest chemical companies, Versalis, was fined £120,000 plus £18,023 costs after admitting two criminal safety offences.
HSE news release and chemicals webpages • Risks 634
Hazards news, 7 December 2013

Brazil: World Cup firm was warned before deaths
The latest deaths during Brazil’s World Cup 2014 preparations came after the firm running a stadium construction site had been warned about the dangers. Two construction workers died on 27 November in the Corinthians Stadium in Sao Paulo after a crane collapsed.
BWI news release • The Spec • Fox Sports • Yahoo News • Risks 634
Hazards news, 7 December 2013

Qatar: No progress on World Cup labour conditions
On the eve of the third anniversary of Qatar winning its controversial bid to host the 2022 World Cup, an international trade union delegation to the gulf state has found no improvement in the living and working conditions of migrant workers. Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), said governments, human rights organisations and FIFA have all called for fundamental workers’ rights and an end to the country’s Kafala system, which can mean poor migrant workers are effectively captives in the country.
ITUC news release • TUC Stronger Unions blog • GMB news release.
Re-run the Vote • Risks 634
Hazards news, 7 December 2013

Britain: Four UK firms hold out on garment safety deal
Public sector union UNISON is calling for one more push to get the remaining UK high street brands to sign up to the union-brokered Bangladeshi factory accord. Last month, Edinburgh Woollen Mill, which also trades as Peacocks, became the 115th company to respond to union and public pressure and sign up to the Bangladesh fire and building safety accord.
UNISON news release • Send a letter to Bank, Bench, Mexx and Republic now!
Bangladesh Accord • Risks 634
Hazards news, 7 December 2013

Britain: New helicopter concerns after Glasgow tragedy
Ongoing inquiries into helicopter safety should also consider the circumstances of the tragedy in Glasgow, pilots’ union BALPA has said. Nine people died – all three helicopter occupants and six pub customers - when a police Eurocopter EC135 helicopter crashed into the roof of the Clutha pub it the city on 2 December.
BALPA news release • The Guardian • BBC News Online • Risks 634
Hazards news, 7 December 2013

Britain: Murder verdict highlights betting industry risks
The conviction of a man for murdering a betting shop worker shows the need for better protection of workers in the sector, the union Community has said. Father-of-three Andrew Iacovou, who was working alone, lay dead behind the counter of the branch of Ladbrokes he managed for over an hour before being found by a customer.
Community news release • Sutton Guardian • Risks 634
Hazards news, 7 December 2013

Europe: Europe gets the ‘Cameron disease’
The UK government is exporting its assault on health and safety laws to Europe, the TUC has warned. Commenting in the TUC’s Stronger Unions blog, Hugh Robertson wrote: “ “Everything that was in the pipeline to do with safety at work has been blocked, including proposed directives on musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and carcinogens, which are two of the biggest health issues in Europe… This is despite strong evidence of the need for new regulation from their own officials and advisers.”
TUC Stronger Unions blog • Risks 634
Hazards news, 7 December 2013

Australia: Unions want action on workplace violence
Up to one in four people will suffer violence in Australian workplaces during the course of their career, with the direct cost running to millions of dollars a year. Figures compiled by the national union federation ACTU show more than 2,000 serious injury workers' compensation claims were lodged as a result of being assaulted at work in 2010/11, costing an average of Aus$6,400 (£3,744) each and requiring three weeks off work. Sydney Morning Herald • The Age • Risks 631
Hazards news, 16 November 2013

Global: Meet Walmart’s worst nightmare
Kalpona Akter, fired and then jailed after trying to unionise her sweatshop as a teenager, is now a key leader in the Bangladesh labour movement. Over the past year, Akter - now executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity - has salvaged and exposed garments manufactured for US brands from the site of a deadly factory fire and challenged Walmart from the floor of its shareholder meeting.
Salon.com • Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh • Risks 631
Hazards news, 16 November 2013

USA: OSHA to go public on injury performance
The US government’s safety watchdog has announced plans to make publicly available the safety records of large firms. A proposed rule issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) follows the Bureau of Labor Statistics' release of its annual Occupational Injuries and Illnesses report, which estimates that three million workers were injured on the job in 2012.
OSHA news release • Worcester Telegram • Risks 631
Hazards news, 16 November 2013

Britain: Garment tragedies prompt ethical 'Kitemark' proposal
MPs are calling for a study into the possibility of an ethical "kitemark" for garments to help raise standards at overseas factories in the wake of the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh. The all-party parliamentary group for Bangladesh said there was a high chance of another tragic event like Rana Plaza, where more than 1,100 people died, or the Tazreen fire, which killed more than 100.
IndustriALL news release • The Guardian • Risks 631
Hazards news, 16 November 2013

Britain: Road firm in court after motorcyclist is paralysed
Road maintenance firm Carillion AM Government Ltd has been fined for serious criminal failings after a motorcyclist suffered devastating injuries and was left paralysed in a collision with traffic signs. Glynn Turner, 47, was riding his motorcycle south on the A12 on the evening of 7 June 2010 when he collided with the traffic signs at a road closure at the junction with the B1121, near Benhall, Saxmundham.
HSE news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 631
Hazards news, 16 November 2013

Britain: Sweep injured in fall from chimney
A Clackmannanshire firm has been fined for criminal safety failings after a chimney sweep fell from the chimney stack of a two storey house in Falkirk. Dylan Skelhorn, 32, was employed by D Henderson Chimney Specialists and Roofers Limited when the incident occurred on 20 June 2011.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 631
Hazards news, 16 November 2013

Britain: Building worker suffers fractured skull and ribs
HACS Construction Ltd has admitted its criminal safety failings led to one of its employees suffering a fractured skull and eight broken ribs in a four-metre fall. The 50 year-old construction worker, from Masham, was using a saw to cut through steel sheets of a mezzanine floor when he started to unbalance.
HSE news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 631
Hazards news, 16 November 2013

Britain: Tug owner fined £1.7m over Clyde deaths
Svitzer Marine, the owner of a tug boat that sank in the River Clyde killing three crew members, has been fined £1.7m. Stephen Humphreys, 33, Eric Blackley, 57, and Robert Cameron, 65, died when the Flying Phantom capsized in thick fog opposite Clydebank College in West Dunbartonshire on 19 December 2007.
BBC News Online • The Herald • Scottish Daily Record • Risks 631
Hazards news, 16 November 2013

Britain: London mayor ignores site safety call
London mayor Boris Johnson has ignored union calls for action to address a sharp rise in site deaths in the capital. “The Mayor’s refusal to even acknowledge our legitimate safety concerns demonstrates a complete lack of leadership or a concern for the safety of London construction workers,” UCATT’s Jerry Swain said, adding there is clear evidence that sites are safer where workers are directly employed rather than self-employed. UCATT news release • Morning Star • Risks 631
Hazards news, 16 November 2013

Britain: Retail staff attack violence on the High Street
Retail union Usdaw has taken its campaign against violence to shopworkers to the streets. The union’s ‘Respect for Shopworkers Week’ ran from 11-15 November under the slogan 'abuse is not a part of a shopworker’s job'.
Usdaw news release • Risks 631
Hazards news, 16 November 2013

Britain: Unite demands access to site after death
A major construction firm had refused the union Unite access to a London construction site where a worker died, denying workers essential safety support. On 6 November labourer Richard Laco, 31, died when a concrete stairwell fell on him at the Laing O'Rourke construction site for the new Francis Crick Institute near Kings Cross.
Unite news release • London Evening Standard • Construction Enquirer • Risks 631
Hazards news, 16 November 2013

Britain: Workers target blacklister Laing O’Rourke
Protesters targeted a Liverpool building project run by Laing O'Rourke on 9 November following a tragic death on one of the construction giant’s London projects. Members of the union-backed Blacklist Support Group (BSG) said they were outraged at the company’s refusal to allow the union access to its projects, including the site of the Francis Crick Institute in London where the death occurred.
Unite Politics – take action on blacklisting • UCATT news release • BWI news release • Sky News • Morning Star • Risks 631
Hazards news, 16 November 2013

Britain: TUC Blacklisting Day of Action, 20 November
The TUC is organising a national day of action on 20 November calling on blacklisting firms to “own up, pay up and clean up”. The 'Cheesegrater' building under construction in central London, another Laing O'Rourke site, is among those in the capital to be targeted. Unions want a Leveson-style inquiry into the scandal.
TUC Blacklisting Day of Action, 20 November, webpages • Events listing for the TUC Day of Action on Blacklisting
Hazards news, 16 November 2013

Britain: Car salvage firm fined over mechanic’s severe burns
A car mechanic suffered severe burns when the inspection pit he was standing in burst into flames. CCTV footage of the incident shows Lee Roberts, 33, running out as fire from a van engulfs the pit at Douglas Valley Breakers Ltd’s workshop on 22 July 2010.
HSE news release and fire and explosion webpages • Video footage of the fireball incident • Risks 630 
Hazards news,  9 November 2013

Britain: Fall firm knew the job was unsafe
A London building firm has been fined after a labourer suffered multiple leg fractures in a fall when a newly-built first floor collapsed under the weight of concrete blocks weighing 1.6 tonnes. The 48 year-old casual labourer fell three metres to the ground at the Cosmos Builders 88 site in Tottenham on 14 September 2012, with the concrete blocks falling around him. HSE news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 630 
Hazards news,  9 November 2013

Britain: Wrong equipment snag severed hand
A Norfolk worker was seriously injured when his hand and arm were pulled into a polishing lathe. Gavin Nobes, 41, from Dereham, almost lost his left hand in the incident at Marshall Brass in Heckingham on 27 February 2012.
HSE news release • Risks 630 
Hazards news,  9 November 2013

Britain: Timber firm fined after hand is guillotined
A Lancaster timber firm has been fined for criminal safety breaches after a guillotine severed the hand of one of its employees. Charlesworth Tree Care and Fencing Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident at the Old Railway Yard in Middleton, near Carnforth, on 3 June 2010.
HSE news release and woodworking webpages • Risks 630
Hazards news,  9 November 2013

Britain: Tree work cost school janitor his toe
Fife Council has been fined for criminal safety failings after a school janitor was injured while undertaking chainsaw work. Craig Davies, a council employee for more than 20 years, lost his toe while cutting back the branches of a tree that had blown down in high winds.
HSE news release and chainsaw webpages • Risks 630 
Hazards news,  9 November 2013

Australia: Roads are the most dangerous workplace
The risk of death to people working in Australia’s road freight sector has almost doubled in one year, while truck driving remains the most dangerous job. Safe Work Australia’s report on work-related fatalities in 2012 shows the fatality rate in road freight transport jumped from 14.68 per 100,000 workers in 2011 to 29.09 per 100,000 last year.
Fully Loaded • Safe Work Australia news release • TWU Safe Rates campaign • Risks 630 
Hazards news,  9 November 2013

Canada: Unions fight for safety protections
As unions in Canada press for proper enforcement of the workplace manslaughter law, the federal government is trying to remove long-established union safety rights. The United Steelworkers (USW) has launching a national campaign to lobby provincial and federal governments for greater enforcement of the Westray Act, nine years after the union successfully lobbied for passage of the historic workplace manslaughter legislation. USW news release and Stop the Killing website • Unifor news release • OHS Canada • Risks 630 
Hazards news,  9 November 2013

Global: Crunch time on World Cup labour abuses
FIFA president Sepp Blatter should give a detailed report to his executive committee meeting in Brazil next month about what FIFA has done to address World Cup-related labour abuses in Qatar, the global union confederation ITUC has said. ITUC estimates 4,000 workers could die building facilities for FIFA’s flagship event unless football’s governing body demands improvements.
ITUC news release and ‘Re-run the vote’ campaign • Risks 630
Hazards news,  9 November 2013

USA: Scandal leads to shutdown of lung disease ‘denial’ clinic
Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, a top US occupational medicine unit, has suspended its black lung programme after a media investigation found it was systematically denying sick coal miners were suffering the debilitating occupational lung disease. The Center for Public Integrity and ABC News investigation revealed how medical opinions from doctors at the prestigious hospital have helped coal companies thwart efforts by ailing mine workers to receive disability benefits.
CPI news release • Johns Hopkins Medicine statement • AFL-CIO Now • Risks 630 
Hazards news,  9 November 2013

Britain: Low returns from HSE fees scheme
A system of charges introduced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to make companies guilty of ‘material breaches’ of safety law pay for the watchdog’s investigation costs, may be causing significant problems without generating the expected income. The cash strapped agency had hoped the Fees for Intervention (FFI) system which came into effect on 1 October 2012 would help fill a large hole in its budgets caused by government funding cuts.
Construction Enquirer • Personnel Today • SHP Online • Thick and fast, Hazards magazine, Number 122, 2013 • Risks 630 
Hazards news,  9 November 2013

Britain: HSE ‘glibly under-states’ work death toll
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) “glibly under-states and under-estimates the scale of the killing” at work, a top academic has charged. Steve Tombs, professor of criminology at the Open University, said HSE statistics released under ‘an all time low’ headline on 31 October are “underestimation and, frankly, misrepresentation.”
Crime and Justice blog • Risks 630 
Hazards news,  9 November 2013

Britain: Companies pay for crane plunge horror
A father of four left paralysed for life after he was ejected from a 200ft-high crane cab is to receive a multimillion pound compensation payout. Iain Gillham was flung into the air when the crane he was operating collapsed onto a luxury apartment block in Liverpool in 2009.
Daily Mirror • Construction Enquirer • Risks 630 
Hazards news,  9 November 2013

Britain: Pizza giant ‘broke safety rules 647 times’
A food factory prosecuted last month after a workplace amputation broke the Working Time Regulations several hundred times in a three month period, an investigation by the union GMB has found. The union probe followed multinational Bakkavor’s prosecution for criminal safety breaches discovered after a worker lost the tip of a finger in an unguarded machine at its Harrow pizza factory.
GMB news release • Risks 630 
Hazards news,  9 November 2013

Britain: RMT warns of impact of £1.7bn rail cuts
Rail union RMT has warned that £1.7 billion of cuts to Network Rail budgets from 2014, announced by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) on 31 October, will mean further savage cuts to jobs and maintenance. The union said the cuts, which it said were “dressed up as ‘efficiency savings’,” would compromise safety and reliability.
RMT news release • ORR news release • Risks 630 
Hazards news,  9 November 2013

Britain: Unite launches safety campaign for offshore workers
Unite has launched a ‘Back Home Safe’ campaign calling for immediate improvements to the safety of offshore flights. Since August’s Super Puma helicopter crash off Shetland, which claimed four lives, the union has conducted an extensive consultation with offshore workers on the safety of offshore flights and found widespread concern.
Unite news release and Back Home Safe campaign on Facebook and Twitter @BackHomeSafe   • BBC News Online • Risks 630
Hazards news,  9 November 2013

Global: Better work works for business
Making work better across the board – improving health and safety, increasing wages and reducing hours – is a productive ‘bundle’ that works for smaller firms, International Labour Organisation (ILO) research has concluded. The review also found evidence of a cause and effect, suggesting that better management practices lead to improved business outcomes rather than vice versa.
Can better working conditions improve the performance of SMEs?: An international literature review. Richard Croucher, Bianca Stumbitz, Michael Quinlan and Ian Vickers, ILO, October 2013 • Risks 629
Hazards news, 2 November 2013

Britain: Submarine base workers exposed to radiation
Two nuclear submarine bases in Scotland and England have suffered 11 significant safety incidents in the last five years, including human exposure to radiation, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has revealed. In the incidents, radioactive waste was spilled, workers were exposed to radiation, power supplies were lost, safety valves wrongly operated and a bag of waste was mistakenly dropped overboard.
Herald Scotland • Risks 629
Hazards news, 2 November 2013

Britain: TUC questions HSE’s low injuries claim
The TUC has warned that apparently conflicting evidence in the Health and Safety Executive’s new workplace injury statistics raise worrying questions about the safety watchdog’s claim that injuries are now at “an all time low.” TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson said lost time figures cast doubt on HSE’s best ever claims, noting “the statistics show that the number of days lost through workplace injury is up from 4.3 million to 5.2 million, which implies that the number of people injured is actually going up.”
TUC Stronger Unions blog • HSE news release and statistics webpages • Risks 629
Hazards news, 2 November 2013

Britain: Mixed picture on site deaths
Regional variations in the fatality trends in construction demonstrate how the fight for safer sites is far from won, according to the union UCATT. Steve Murphy, general secretary of UCATT, said: “The reduction in deaths is primarily due to falling workloads and the industry working in a more sensible manner, rather than any significant improvement in safety.”
UCATT news release • HSE construction statistics webpage • Risks 629
Hazards news, 2 November 2013

Britain: Public services hurt by spending cuts and violence
A 'toxic cocktail' of spending cuts and violence against public service workers has resulted in another increase in violent incidents across Scottish councils and NHS Scotland. Public sector union UNISON said its survey showed 33,689 incidents were reported to public service employers last year - almost 14,000 more than when the first survey was first conducted in 2006.
UNISON news release • UNISON Scotland Survey of Violence at Work 2012 •
Morning Star • Risks 629
Hazards news, 2 November 2013

Britain: Tube incident should kill driverless trains plan
An incident where a Tube train driver averted a possible tragedy when the doors opened on a packed commuter train highlights why a shift to driverless trains should be rejected outright, the rail union RMT has said. The Tube union has demanded a full investigation after the doors opened between stations on a packed Piccadilly Line train heading towards Heathrow on Sunday afternoon.
RMT news release • Risks 628
Hazards news, 26 October 2013

Britain: ‘Dangerous’ prison service is at ‘breaking point’
A growing prison population combined with prison closures and staff and budget reductions is leaving the service dangerous and “at breaking point”, prison officers’ union POA has warned.
POA news release • Risks 628
Hazards news, 26 October 2013

Britain: UK Coal fined over miner’s death
UK Coal has been sentenced after admitting a number of serious criminal safety failings that led to the death of miner Gerry Gibson when 15 tonnes of rock forming a section of roof collapsed as a powered roof support was being used. The company, now in administration, was fined £200,000.
HSE news release and explosion news release • ITV News report • Yorkshire Evening Post • The Press • Risks 628
Hazards news, 26 October 2013

Britain: Nearly half sites had criminal safety failings
A month long spot check campaign of construction sites by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has revealed major safety failings are commonplace. The inspectors found that on 1,105 sites (42 per cent) basic safety standards were not being met and on 644 sites (25 per cent) safety was so poor enforcement action was required to protect the safety of workers.
UCATT news release • HSE news release • Safer sites webpages and ‘Turning Concern into Action’ film featuring the testimony of construction site victims • Risks 628
Hazards news, 26 October 2013

Britain: ‘Dickensian’ conditions on Preston site
A construction firm has been prosecuted after it allowed subcontractors to carry out refurbishment work on a Grade 2 listed building in Preston for nearly seven weeks without toilets or running water. Altrincham-based RNT Developments and Construction Ltd brought in roofers, damp treatment experts, electricians, joiners and plasters to work on the nineteenth century Harris Institute – a former dance academy – on the outskirts of the city but it failed to provide basic facilities for workers.
HSE news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 628
Hazards news, 26 October 2013

Britain: Company boss fined after mechanic’s death
The owner of a Leicestershire transport company has been fined for criminal safety failings after a mechanic was killed during a jacking operation. Mark Wintersgill, 25, was attempting to jack up the axle of a double decker HGV trailer at PPR Transport Services in Lutterworth on 25 June 2012 when the jack separated from the axle and struck him. HSE news release • Risks 628
Hazards news, 26 October 2013

Britain: Two injured in demolition blunder
A South Wales demolition firm has been landed with a six figure bill after two of its workers were injured when a mezzanine floor collapsed on them. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Wrexham Demolition and Dismantling Ltd following the incident which took place on 9 September 2008.
HSE news release and construction webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 628
Hazards news, 26 October 2013

Britain: Suspended sentence for recycling firm boss
A Corby recycling firm has been fined and its director given a suspended jail sentence for endangering workers. BB Recycling allowed staff to operate forklift trucks without proper training and then ignoring an official Health and Safety Executive (HSE) enforcement notice requiring urgent action to address the safety failing.
HSE news release and workplace transport webpages • Risks 628
Hazards news, 26 October 2013

Britain: Painful lessons not learnt at fruit company
An Essex-based firm has been fined for repeated safety failings following three separate incidents in which workers were injured after becoming trapped in machinery. Two agency workers and an employee, who was a maintenance engineer, were all working for fruit importer and distributor Winfresh (UK) Ltd at its processing plant in Essex.
HSE news release and machinery safety webpages • Risks 628
Hazards news, 26 October 2013

Britain: Packaging firm in court for guard failings
A packaging firm has been fined after a worker severed the tip of a finger on a machine where a safety guard had been deliberately disabled. The nesting machine, which makes food packaging cartons, had been running with a tampered interlock for at least five months prior to the incident at Alexir Packaging Limited, in Edenbridge, Kent, on 9 September 2011.
HSE news release and manufacturing webpages • Risks 628
Hazards news, 26 October 2013

Britain: Food giant’s neglect led to woman’s injury
An international food manufacturer with UK sales of over £1.4 billion in 2012 has been fined £20,000 after a production worker lost the tip of a finger in an unguarded dough-proving machine. Sushila Patel, 58, had the top of a middle finger sliced off when she was tasked with picking up dough balls being discarded from a faulty machine at the Bakkavor Foods Ltd pizza factory in Harrow.
HSE news release • Bakkavor factsheet • Risks 628
Hazards news, 26 October 2013

Bangladesh: Some hope six months after factory collapse
Six months after the deadly factory collapse, a group of survivors of the Rana Plaza tragedy in Bangladesh say they have been encouraged by the success of the union-brokered Accord on Fire and Building Safety, but have called on global brands to provide overdue compensation. In a visit to the site of the tragedy, in which 1,129 workers lost their lives, representatives from IndustriALL and UNI, the two global unions that drove the accord, spoke to survivors and explained the series of new commitments, to which over 100 global brands have now signed.
IndustriALL news release • Clean Clothes Campaign news release and report • Risks 628
Hazards news, 26 October 2013

Japan: Fukushima cleanup takes its toll
Almost three years after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered a triple meltdown, the human cost of the industrial cleanup is becoming evident. With each successive accident and radiation leak, the men working inside the plant are suffering from plummeting morale, health problems and anxiety about the future, according to insiders.
The Guardian • Risks 627 
Hazards news, 19 October 2013

Global: Unions put companies on notice over Qatar
Trade union leaders from 58 countries meeting in Brussels last week for the annual general council of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) put companies on notice that failure to address abuses of workers’ rights in Qatar will lead to more deaths and injuries. ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow said the abuses of workers in Qatar, where one worker dies on average each day, and FIFA-inspired changes to labour laws in Brazil and Russia are high priorities for the governing body of the world’s trade unions. ITUC news release • Re-run the Vote campaign • Risks 627 
Hazards news, 19 October 2013

Britain: Worker crushed to death on dry dock
A ship repair worker was crushed to death when an anchor weighing almost three tonnes toppled onto him in a dry dock at Teesport. Kevin Watson, 51, was one of three men working for ship repair and conversion company A&P Tees Ltd on a sand dredger in the dry dock when the incident happened on 11 February 2009.
HSE news release • Risks 627 
Hazards news, 19 October 2013

Britain: Bulldozer driver was crushed to death
A Surrey company has been fined for criminal safety failings after a contractor was crushed to death at the London Gateway Port construction site in Essex. Robert Noel Mayne, known as Noel, from Tichfield in Hampshire, died as he and colleagues tried to retrieve a bulldozer that was bogged down in mud at the Stanford-le-Hope development on 23 April 2011.
HSE news release and construction webpages • Risks 627 
Hazards news, 19 October 2013

Britain: Three guilty in trench collapse death
The director of a Hertfordshire building company and the co-owners of a south London property undergoing conversion have been sentenced for their criminal safety failings after a worker was killed in a trench collapse. Xian Hou Ye, 56, was crushed and suffocated by nearly nine tonnes of soil at the property in Lewisham, on 30 September 2010.
HSE news release and excavations webpages • Risks 627
Hazards news, 19 October 2013

Britain: Firm fined after worker suffers severe caustic burns
A Warwickshire company that manufactures car components has been fined after a worker was burned by caustic soda while leaning over a conveyor. The operative required skin grafts to his stomach as a result of the incident at Grupo Antolin Leamington Limited on 25 January 2012.
HSE news release • Risks 627 
Hazards news, 19 October 2013

[deadly bus]Britain: Agricultural firm fined for chemical asthma risks
A Lincolnshire agricultural machinery manufacturer has been fined after employees were put at risk of developing asthma through the spraying of a hazardous chemical. Grantham Magistrates' Court heard that Marston Agricultural Services Ltd allowed trailers to be sprayed with isocyanate-containing paint without fully assessing the potential dangers and implementing adequate controls to protect workers from the chemical.
HSE news release and isocyanates guide • Risks 627 
Hazards news, 19 October 2013

Australia: Workers need more protection, not less
A toll of over half-a-million workers injured and thousands killed each year in Australia shows the need to strengthen not weaken workplace safety regulation, the country’s top union body has said. National union federation ACTU points to statistics showing each year 600,000 workers are injured – 127,000 of these seriously – costing Australia more than $60 billion (£36bn) annually.
ACTU news release • Risks 627 
Hazards news, 19 October 2013

Britain: Business leaders deliver deregulation ‘whine-fest’
A Business Taskforce created by the prime minister to examine the impact on business of Europe regulations has delivered the expected ‘whine-fest’, the TUC has said. The union body was commenting on the publication of ‘Cut EU red tape: report from the Business Taskforce’, produced by a group of six business leaders hand-picked by David Cameron.
Stronger Unions blog • BIS/Prime Minister’s Office news release • Cut EU red tape: report from the Business Taskforce • Risks 627 
Hazards news, 19 October 2013

Britain: 'Red tape' deregulation call is ‘wrong’
The government-commissioned report by business leaders on ‘EU red tape’ is wrong to label health and safety as a threat to small firms, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and the Hazards Campaign have said. The ‘Cut EU red tape’ document highlighted what it described as the ‘30 worst threats to small firms’, with written risk assessments topping the list.
IOSH news release • Hazards Campaign news release • ‘We love red tape’ facebook page • Risks 627 
Hazards news, 19 October 2013

Britain: Two down and six to go on Bangladesh campaign
Following a high profile TUC-led campaign, the cut-price clothing chain Matalan has followed River Island to become the latest High Street name to sign up to a union-initiated safety accord to protect garment workers in Bangladesh – of the eight major chains originally refusing to sign up, six - Bench, Bank Fashion, Peacocks, Jane Norman, Republic and Mexx - are still holding out and will remain a target of union and other labour rights campaigners.
TUC Stronger Unions blog and Going to Work campaign
Now get Bench, Bank Fashion, Peacocks, Jane Norman, Republic and Mexx to sign up - write to all six companies now! • Risks 626
Hazards news, 12 October 2013

Global: GMB offers to investigate Qatar 2022 conditions
UK union GMB has volunteered to be part of a team of inspectors that the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is putting together to inspect workplaces and labour camps in Qatar, scheduled to host the 2022 World Cup. After exposing high death rates and abusive labour standards on construction projects linked to the event, the global union body has said it intends to assess and report on conditions.
GMB news release • ITUC news release • BWI news release • Risks 626
Hazards news, 12 October 2013

Global: We need decent work, not hire and fire
Public sector union UNISON has called for decent work for all and an end to the routine abuse of workers worldwide. In a letter to the Guardian ahead of World Day for Decent Work on 7 October, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis wrote: “Mass suicides in electronic companies in China; deaths of young men building World Cup stadiums in Qatar; crushed bodies in a garment factory in Bangladesh; blacklisting for exposing dangers on UK building sites – these are some of the perils of working in the 21st century where rights and protections are either non-existent or steadily being eroded.” ITUC news release • UNISON news release • The Guardian • World Day for Decent Work 2013 • We love red tape facebook page • Risks 626
Hazards news, 12 October 2013

Britain: Shopworker assaults not reported by 1-in-6
Almost half of all shopworkers have suffered verbal abuse in the last year, over a third have been threatened and 1-in-25 has been the victim of a violent attack, latest figures from the shopworkers’ union Usdaw have revealed. The interim results of Usdaw’s 2013 survey also reveal than 1-in-6 of the victims of a violent assault do not report the incident.
Usdaw news release • The union’s Respect for Shopworkers Week 2013 takes place from 11 to 15 November • Risks 626
Hazards news, 12 October 2013

Britain: Injustice prolonged after firefighters’ deaths
Firefighters’ union FBU has said the families of two firefighters killed at work must be given peace and justice and not subjected to another painful court hearing. The union was commenting after an unsuccessful appeal this week by East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service against a July High Court ruling saying it must pay compensation to the bereaved families of firefighter Geoff Wicker, 49, and fire service cameraman Brian Wembridge, 63.
FBU news release • Risks 626
Hazards news, 12 October 2013

Britain: Calling all COMAH safety reps
Unions want to know the concerns encountered routinely by union safety reps on Control of Major Accident Hazard (COMAH) sites. The want union reps to add their voices to a quickie online questionnaire that “focuses on a range of incidents that take place rather frequently in COMAH sites.”
Survey for COMAH safety reps • HSE COMAH competence management guidance • SHP Online • Risks 626
Hazards news, 12 October 2013

Britain: Radiologist gets an unwelcome dose of radiation
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust has been fined after an interventional radiologist was exposed to significant amounts of ionizing radiation. Boston Magistrates' Court heard the affected person was working with a CT scanner at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, and received more than double the annual dose limit for skin exposure in just over three months.
HSE news release • BBC News Online • Boston Standard • Risks 626
Hazards news, 12 October 2013

Britain: ‘Unbelievable’ failures at nuclear sub dock
The primary and secondary power sources providing the coolant for nuclear reactors in Britain’s submarine fleet failed on 29 July, leading to a nuclear incident being narrowly averted. The Independent on Sunday reported the crisis at the Devonport naval dockyard in Plymouth, operated by the Ministry of Defence and government engineering contractors Babcock Marine, was comparable with the Fukushima Daiichi power station meltdown in Japan in 2011.
Independent on Sunday • Risks 626
Hazards news, 12 October 2013

Britain: Joiner’s fall lands firm in court
A Bradford construction firm has been convicted of a criminal safety offence after a joiner fell six metres through a fragile rooflight at a factory in Leeds. The 46-year-old self-employed joiner from Bradford, who does not wish to be named, was hired by MD Construction (Bradford) Ltd to remove ventilation turrets from a warehouse roof at Johnsons Apparelmaster in Leeds.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 626
Hazards news, 12 October 2013

Britain: Kebab worker maimed by meat stripper
An Essex kebab manufacturer has been fined for serious safety failings after a worker suffered horrific injuries to his hand when it became trapped in unguarded machinery. Ethem Torunoglu, 36, from London, was working for Kismet Kebabs Ltd where he was cleaning a derinding machine when his hand was drawn into the machine between the stripper comb and the serrated roller above it.
HSE news release and food industry webpages • Risks 626
Hazards news, 12 October 2013

Britain: Chemical fireball engulfed workers
A chemical firm has been ordered to pay £105,000 in fines after a major explosion at a waste management site in Lancashire that caused three workers to sustain serious burns. Personnel Hygiene Services (PHS) Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the blast at Burscough Industrial Estate in Burscough on 12 October 2010. The explosion occurred when aerosol cans were put into an industrial shredder.
HSE news release and fire and explosion webpages • BBC News Online • Risks 626
Hazards news, 12 October 2013

Britain: Schoolgirl dragged by scarf into a lathe
A Scottish council has been fined £48,000 for criminal health and safety breaches after schoolgirl was dragged into a lathe by her scarf. Nadine Craig, who was 14 at the time, was pulled into the machine in November 2007 and freed by fellow pupils – she received 40 stitches to a wound in her neck and it was six months before she returned to Galashiels Academy.
The Scotsman • Herald Scotland • BBC News Online • Risks 626
Hazards news, 12 October 2013

Bangladesh: Deadly fire underlines the union safety case
A Bangladeshi textile factory where at least seven workers died and more than 50 were injured in a fire on 8 October, was not covered by the union-brokered international safety accord. Global unions IndustriALL and UNI say almost 1,600 sites are due to be inspected under the accord on fire and building safety, but wants its scope extended to cover many more workplaces.
IndustriALL news release • The Guardian • Risks 626
Hazards news, 12 October 2013

Europe: Health and safety strategy put on ice
The European Commission has suspended all progress on its already overdue workplace health and safety strategy. A 2 October Commission communication on its REFIT deregulatory policy said all health and safety at work measures currently under discussion will be shelved until a new Commission takes office in 2014.
ETUI news release • EU Commission:Communication "Regulatory fitness and performance (REFIT): results and next steps”, 2 Oct 2013 • UniEuropa news release • Risks 626
Hazards news, 12 October 2013

Global: Scandals engulf asbestos-backed scientists
Emerging scandals concerns academics in the UK and Canada have exposed the lengths to which the asbestos industry will go to manipulate science and boost its deadly product. A conference last week at McGill University in Canada revealed that one of its most high profile academics, Professor J Corbett McDonald, had received over Can$1 million from the asbestos industry, but had routinely hidden this association when publishing industry-friendly papers; and Edinburgh University’s Professor Ken Donaldson either failed to mention or flatly denied links to firms defending asbestos compensation cases, while receiving payments and writing papers the New York Supreme court found were “intended to cast doubt on the capability of chrysotile [white] asbestos to cause cancer.”
RightOnCanada blog • David Egilman’s full presentation: The Past is Prologue, Universities in Service to Corporations: The McGill-QAMA Asbestos Example • Montreal Gazette • A very particular crime, Hazards magazine special report, September 2013. Nature • The Scotsman • Risks 626
Hazards news, 12 October 2013

Britain: Safety watchdog must be seen and heard
The government should increase funding for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) so it can intensify its inspection efforts, the union Unite has said. The union was speaking out after an HSE inspection blitz on construction sites throughout September revealed that almost half of those visited failed the checks.
Unite news release • HSE construction webpages and Safer sites initiative • Risks 626
Hazards news, 12 October 2013

Qatar: Authorities fail to address World Cup horrors
Qatar authorities have admitted there are serious abuses of the labour rights of the 1.2 million migrant workers in the country, after the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) warned up to 4,000 workers could die before a ball is kicked at the 2022 World Cup. ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow said the promise by authorities in Qatar – which will host football’s global showcase in 2022 - simply to increase the number of labour inspectors is weak and disappointing.
ITUC news release and background materials • Video testimony of marble cutters describing their working conditions in Doha • BWI news release • The Guardian and related article • Risks 625
Hazards news, 5 October 2013

Britain: Recycling firm fined over young worker's death
A Bridgend recycling firm has been ordered to pay more than £300,000 in fines and costs after a 21-year-old worker was crushed to death when he was struck by a skip lorry on a weighbridge he was cleaning. Geraint Eagle, of Nant–Y-Moel, near Bridgend, was cleaning sensors on the weighbridge at the waste site run by Nolan Recycling Ltd when the incident happened on 2 December 2010.
HSE news release and skip hire/waste transfer webpage • Risks 625
Hazards news, 5 October 2013

Britain: Bridge workers suffer horrific water jet injuries
A worker on the Tay Road Bridge lost a leg while another suffered “terrible” abdominal and bowel injuries and almost lost a finger after being hit by a faulty high-powered water jet used to blast concrete. Mark Sharples, who was 27 at the time, and Ian Davies, who was 40, were struck when the “extremely powerful” jet shot out of their hands in separate incidents, hitting Mr Sharples in the left buttock and Mr Davies in the knee.
HSE news release • The Courier • Construction Enquirer • Risks 625
Hazards news, 5 October 2013

Britain: Company fined for tall ship blaze
A Dorset yacht company has been sentenced for safety failings relating to a fire that ravaged a famous tall ship and almost killed a worker. Welder Rolf Kitching, 45, from Portsmouth, sustained 40 per cent burns to his upper torso and head and was hospitalised for four months as a result and was initially not expected to survive the incident at Hythe Marina in Hampshire on 10 June 2008.
HSE news release and welding webpage • Risks 625
Hazards news, 5 October 2013

Britain: Pig farmers done after hopper breaks leg
A Teesside pig farming business has been fined for safety failings after a worker was struck and seriously injured by a feed hopper that fell from the forks of a loader. Imogen Simpson, 45, sustained two skull fractures, a crushed left ankle and had her leg broken in four places in the incident at F Brunton & Sons Ltd in Guisborough, on 21 June 2012.
HSE news release • Risks 625
Hazards news, 5 October 2013

Britain: Food for thought after worker loses finger tips
An East London firm that makes convenience food has been fined for criminal safety failings after an agency worker lost the tips from four fingers as he tried to unblock a dicing machine. The worker, who does not wish to be named, sustained the serious injury while working a night shift as a production assistant at Oldfields Ltd, part of the international Greencore Group plc, at their plant in Bow, Tower Hamlets.
HSE news release • Risks 625
Hazards news, 5 October 2013

Britain: Government marks freedom from safety day
Business minister Michael Fallon has been criticised by a top safety campaigner after he claimed a new round of cuts to safety regulations are “good news for the growth prospects of UK companies.” Workplace health and safety measures dominated the cuts to “red tape” highlighted by the minister on ‘Freedom Day’, 1 October.
BIS news release • We love red tape facebook page • Risks 625
Hazards news, 5 October 2013

Britain: Cutback injury reporting system takes effect
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has formally implemented controversial changes to “simplify the mandatory reporting of workplace injuries for businesses.” The changes to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995, which have been criticised by workplace health groups and unions, introduce a shorter list of reportable major injuries, reduce the number of reportable occupational diseases from 47 to just eight and cut down the types of reportable “dangerous occurrences.”
HSE news release and RIDDOR webpages • Risks 625
Hazards news, 5 October 2013

Global: Landmark silicosis settlement for gold miners
South African miners employed by a gold firm forming part of a UK-based multinational have received landmark payouts for the deadly dust disease silicosis. The long-running President Steyn gold miners’ silicosis litigation against Anglo American South Africa Ltd (AASA) includes payments to 23 claimants, including 18 President Steyn Mine claimants, whose claims began in 2004.
Leigh Day and Co news release • IOL Business • Risks 625
Hazards news, 5 October 2013

Britain: Shopworkers are suffering violent abuse in silence
Many shopworkers are suffering violence, threats and abuse in silence, a survey by their union Usdaw has found. Speaking at the British Retail Consortium's (BRC) retail crime and loss prevention conference, Usdaw safety officer Doug Russell said whereas the BRC estimates only 2 in 1,000 shopworkers have been victims of violence, Usdaw’s survey puts the figure 20 times higher at 40 per 1,000.
Usdaw news release and Freedom From Fear survey results. Respect for Shopworkers Week 2013 takes place on 11–15 November • Risks 625
Hazards news, 5 October 2013

Britain: Rail concerns as ministers axe safety jobs
Network Rail sparked a safety row this week over a move to axe 750 managerial jobs. The job losses - to meet government-imposed cuts - will hit senior staff in safety critical roles, warned Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA rail union.
TSSA news release • Risks 625
Hazards news, 5 October 2013

Britain: Rail union ‘disgust’ at tunnel maintenance neglect
Train drivers’ union ASLEF has reacted with “dismay and disgust” after it emerged passengers and rail staff on the London to Brighton line could have been killed because of years of maintenance work failures in a Victorian tunnel. The union was commenting this week after a whistleblowing rail engineer told the BBC’s Inside Out programme about a potentially deadly series of problems with Balcombe Tunnel, near Crawley, West Sussex.
ASLEF news release • BBC News Online • Risks 625
Hazards news, 5 October 2013

Britain: Man doused in deadly chemical at drug firm
A Northumberland pharmaceutical company has been fined for a serious criminal safety breach that left a worker fighting for his life in hospital. On 7 February 2012, the employee was sprayed with seven litres of bromine as he removed cables from a valve connected to pipework at Aesica Pharmaceuticals in Cramlington.
HSE news release • Risks 624
Hazards news, 28 September 2013

Britain: Window firm fined over severed fingers
A Cumbrian manufacturer of wooden doors and window frames has been fined for criminal safety failings after an employee's fingers were severed by a rotating saw. The New West Port Corporation Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident at its factory on the Solway Industrial Estate in Maryport on 2 March 2011.
HSE news release • Risks 624
Hazards news, 28 September 2013

Canada: Mine deaths plea bargain ‘betrays workers’
A plea bargain dropping the majority of safety charges against international mining giant Vale related to the deaths of two nickel miners in exchange for a Can$1m (£600,000) fine is another betrayal of Ontario workers and their families, unions have said. The “decision highlights our government's failure to take comprehensive, meaningful action to better protect workers and to ensure justice for families whose loved ones are needlessly injured or killed on the job,” said Rick Bertrand, president of United Steelworkers (USW)  Local 6500.
USW news release, related news and Vale fatalities webpages • USW Local 6500 Double Fatalities Investigation Report • OFL news release • CBC News • Risks 624
Hazards news, 28 September 2013

Global: Unions continue container safety campaign
The global transport workers’ union ITF has pledged to continue the struggle for container weight safety after what it described as a missed opportunity to reduce the risk of harm to transport workers and members of the public. ITF was speaking out after the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) sub-committee on dangerous goods, solid cargoes and containers decided to reject mandatory weighing of packed shipping containers.
ITF news release • Risks 624
Hazards news, 28 September 2013

Honduras: Banana workers call for help
A certification system supposed to provide a guarantee that goods are produced according to strict standards that guarantee workers' rights is giving cover to an abusive banana producer in Honduras, the global food workers’ union IUF has said. Last year workers at the Tres Hermanas banana plantation in Honduras formed a union, SITRAINBA - but rather than recognise the union, IUF says Tres Hermanas management set up their own bogus "union" and started a campaign of harassment, including sacking some SITRAINBA members and suspending others.
IUF news release • Send a message to Rainforest Alliance calling for the decertification of Tres Hermanas • Risks 624
Hazards news, 28 September 2013

Global: Child labour falls by a third since 2000
A new report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), says that the number of child labourers worldwide has declined by one third since 2000, from 246 million to 168 million. The current number of children in hazardous work stands at 85 million, down from 171 million in 2000.
ILO news release and Marking progress against child labour • ILO Campaign: Red card to child labour • Risks 624
Hazards news, 28 September 2013

Britain: Labour crackdown on bogus self-employment
Construction union UCATT has welcomed Labour’s announcement that the next Labour government will crackdown on false self-employment in the construction industry. Steve Murphy, general secretary of UCATT, said: “I want to congratulate the shadow Treasury team for this pro-active policy, which will have a real impact on the lives of construction workers.”
UCATT news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 624
Hazards news, 28 September 2013

Europe: Critics of EU chemical policy had industry ties
Seventeen scientists who launched a high profile attack on plans in Europe to regulate endocrine-disrupting chemicals have past or current ties to regulated industries. An investigation by Environmental Health News (EHN) revealed that of 18 toxicology journal editors who signed a controversial editorial, 17 have collaborated with the chemical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, tobacco, pesticide or biotechnology industries.
Environmental Health News • Nature • ChemSec news • Policy decisions on Endocrine Disruptors should be based on science across disciplines: A Response to Dietrich et al and Editorial: An international Riposte to naysayers of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals. Both in Endocrinology, published online ahead of print, 18 September 2013.
DR Dietrich and others. Scientifically unfounded precaution drives European Commission’s recommendations on EDC regulation, while defying common sense, well-established science and risk assessment principles,  Food and Chemical Toxicology, published online 5 July 2013.
P Grandjean and D Ozonoff. Transparency and translation of science in a modern world, Environmental Health, volume 12, number 70, 27 August 2013 • Risks 624
Hazards news, 28 September 2013

Global: Sea union’s concern at suppressed tragedy report
Seafarers’ union Nautilus has condemned a decision by Panama to prevent public access to a long-awaited report on the 2009 loss of the livestock carrier Danny FII. The Panamanian-registered ship sank in stormy conditions off the coast of Lebanon in December 2009, with the loss of more than 40 seafarers - including the master and electrotechnical officer, who were both UK Nautilus members.
Nautilus news release • Risks 624
Hazards news, 28 September 2013

Britain: Union concerns over helicopter safety probe
Unions have raised serious concerns about the organisation undertaking a review of offshore helicopter safety and the limited scope of the planned probe. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) investigation follows the crash last month of a CHC-operated Super Puma AS332 L2 off Shetland in which four contract workers died.
Unite news release • BALPA news release • RMT news release • CAA news release • BBC News Online • The Scotsman • Risks 624
Hazards news, 28 September 2013

Britain: River Island to sign Bangladesh safety accord
The TUC has welcomed a decision by clothing retailer River Island to sign up to the Bangladesh accord, the union-backed agreement designed to improve workplace safety in the country. The accord was implemented following the Rana Plaza factory collapse which killed over 1,100 textile workers in April this year – of the four deadliest factory disasters in history, three happened in the last 12 months.
TUC news release and Going to Work campaign • AFL-CIO Now blog •
Now get Matalan, Bench, Bank Fashion, Peacocks, Jane Norman, Republic and Mexx to sign up - write to all seven companies now! • Risks 624
Hazards news, 28 September 2013

Britain: Company boss gets suspended sentence
The director of a Norwich company has been given a suspended six-month prison sentence and 180 hours of community service for safety failings in relation to electrical systems at the company's premises. Norwich Crown Court was told that an investigation by the HSE had found that Michael Lustig was found to have dangerous electrical installations and equipment in his workplace.
HSE press release • Risks 623
Hazards news, 21 September 2013

Britain: Fall means worker left unable to work
A roofing firm has been fined for safety failings after a worker sustained severe injuries when he fell through a primary school roof in Chorley. A 51-year-old man suffered fractures to his spine, breastbone and ribs in the incident at St Marys Primary School, and narrowly avoided being paralysed.
HSE press release • Risks 623
Hazards news, 21 September 2013

Bangladesh: Workers still awaiting compensation
Five months after the devastating Rana Plaza factory building collapse in Bangladesh that claimed 1,129 lives and injured thousands of others, only one manufacturer has come forward to compensate the victims. Unions and victims groups are seeking $34.6 million compensation from the retailers who benefited from the workers conditions but a meeting in Geneva with retailers got nowhere after only nine of the twenty-eight brands that were supplied by Rana Plaza showed up.
IndustriALL • Sign SumOfUs.org's petition to River Island to sign up to a key safety plan for Bangladesh • Risks 623
Hazards news, 21 September 2013

Cambodia: Workers starve in name of fashion
The plight of Cambodian garment workers has been highlighted during London Fashion Week by worker rights group Labour Behind the Label who have released a study that shows a third of Cambodian garment workers producing clothes sold in the UK by global brands are not getting enough food.
Labour Behind the Label report • Risks 623
Hazards news, 21 September 2013

USA: Prison for coal boss
The former boss of a US company has been sent to prison for his part in trying to cover up safety violations, after 29 workers were killed in a West Virginia mine. The former president of Massey Energy's White Buck Coal and the Green Valley Resource Group, David Hughart, 53, was given a 42-month prison sentence after he admitted that he and others at Massey conspired to violate health and safety laws and to conceal those violations by warning mine operations when MSHA inspectors were arriving to conduct mine inspections.
Press report • Risks 623
Hazards news, 21 September 2013

Japan: Fukushima out of control
A senior official for Fukushima plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has contradicted claims from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that the situation in the stricken reactor is under control.
Common Dreams • Risks 623
Hazards news, 21 September 2013

Britain: Inspection stats challenged
The magazine of the professional body for local government inspectors has claimed that official statistics showing councils are proactively inspecting thousands of lower risk businesses may be skewed by miscoding and misreporting. Some councils listed in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) annual survey of local enforcement say the figures are inaccurate.
EHN article • TUC briefing on inspections • Risks 623
Hazards news, 21 September 2013

Britain: Two companies fined after admitting asbestos crimes
A leading British dairy products company and a Manchester welding company have been fined for exposing employees to material containing the killer dust asbestos at an industrial site in Devon. Dairy Crest, one of the top 250 companies listed on the London Stock exchange, was prosecuted on Friday 13 September alongside Rochdale Electric Welding Company Limited (REWCO), of Middleton, Greater Manchester, after the HSE identified failings with the planning of the job and a lack of training for workers involved. HSE press release • Risks 623
Hazards news, 21 September 2013

Britain: Construction sites fail inspections
Almost half of all construction sites visited by the HSE had significant safety problems. Between the 2nd and 27th September the HSE are undertaking a major inspection and enforcement initiative targeting the construction refurbishment sector; halfway through the initiative the HSE revealed that nearly half of the 1,000 sites they had visited contained material breaches leading to the issuing of a Notice of Contravention.
UCATT release • Risks 623
Hazards news, 21 September 2013

China: Apple supply chain abuses continue
The new cheaper iPhone that Apple unveiled to a global audience this week is being produced under illegal and abusive conditions in Chinese factories owned by a major US company, investigators have claimed. Workers are asked to stand for 12-hour shifts with just two 30-minute breaks, six days a week, the non-profit organisation China Labor Watch said, with staff working without adequate protective equipment, at risk from chemicals, noise and lasers, for an average of 69 hours a week, breaking Apple’s required 60 hour ceiling.
China Labor Watch news release • The Guardian • TUC news release • Risks 622
Hazards news, 14 September 2013

Pakistan: No compensation one year after deadly fire
A year after over 250 workers were killed in a devastating garment factory fire in Pakistan, injured workers and bereaved relatives have not received full compensation. Campaigners say German price-cutting chain KiK, the only known buyer of the jeans manufactured at Ali Enterprises, should pay up in full.
Clean Clothes Campaign news release • TUC news release • Risks 622
Hazards news, 14 September 2013

Britain: Health board failed to protect worker from violence
A health board has been prosecuted for failing to protect a nurse from a violent attack by a patient. Lothian Health Board was fined £32,000 after the community psychiatric nurse, 55, was attacked while making a home visit to a patient with mental health issues.
HSE news release • TUC news release • Risks 622
Hazards news, 14 September 2013

Britain: Aggregate firm fined over tipper death
A Kent aggregate company has been ordered to pay more than £180,000 in fines and costs after a worker was killed by dangerous lifting equipment on a tipper lorry. Brian Peek, 57, from Ashford, sustained fatal injuries whilst unloading bags of hardcore and aggregate for Moores Turf & Top Soil Limited at a domestic address in Wittersham on 20 November 2006.
HSE news release and lifting equipment guide • TUC news release • Risks 622
Hazards news, 14 September 2013

Britain: Network Rail slammed over worker’s death
Network Rail was the subject of a scathing Crown Court attack after it pleaded guilty to criminal safety offence that led to one worker dying and another two suffering serious injuries. The firm was fined £125,000 and £85,000 costs for the offences related to the death of track maintenance worker Malcolm Slater.
ORR news release • Brentwood Gazette • Romford Recorder • Construction Enquirer • TUC news release • Risks 622
Hazards news, 14 September 2013

Britain: MPs to probe offshore helicopter safety
An inquiry is to be launched by a Commons committee into helicopter safety in the wake of a crash of a Super Puma off the Shetland Islands which claimed four lives last month. The Commons transport select committee will hold the inquiry into the fatal this and other incidents amid concerns over the safety of the Super Puma helicopter by the oil and gas industry.
Transport select committee news release • TUC helicopter safety motion • Unite news release • GMB news release • BALPA news release • The Scotsman • BBC News Online • TUC news release • Risks 622
Hazards news, 14 September 2013

Britain: MPs back union concerns on pilot fatigue
Union concerns that planned European Union changes to flying hours rules would see pilots landing planes while dangerously tired have been supported by a committee of MPs. A report from the House of Commons transport select committee published this week expresses concern about the lack of evidence behind proposed changes which could mean pilots were awake for a 22 hour stretch.
BALPA news release •  House of Commons Transport Select Committee report and webpages on flight time limitations • TUC news release • Risks 622
Hazards news, 14 September 2013

Britain: Councils defy ban on proactive inspections
More than half of local authorities appear to be ignoring government guidance banning proactive inspections of lower risk businesses. The most recent data released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) shows that 53 per cent of the authorities continue to proactively inspect ‘some or many’ lower risk ‘Category B2’ and ‘Category C’ businesses. EHN Online • TUC news release • Risks 622
Hazards news, 14 September 2013

Britain: Safety concerns over North Sea gas leak risks
New safety concerns have been raised about an oil and gas field that was shut down last year due to a leak. According to a report from Reuters news agency, the operator of the Elgin field has identified concerns about the corrosive effect of chemicals on pipes. Reuters reports that Total has plans for a costly shutdown of several Elgin wells due to the safety concerns.
BBC News Online • TUC news release • Risks 622
Hazards news, 14 September 2013

Britain: Bangladeshi union leader’s plea to UK retailers
A top garment union official from Bangladesh has warned eight leading UK retailers that there could be a repeat of April’s Rana Plaza tragedy if they refuse to sign up to the international accord designed to protect Bangladeshi factory workers. Amirul Haque Amin, president of the Bangledeshi National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF), said several big names are still refusing to commit to the agreement that will make building inspections compulsory at Bangladeshi factories that supply fashion goods to UK stores. TUC news release • TUC Stronger Unions blog • Usdaw news release • TUC news release • Risks 622
Hazards news, 14 September 2013

Britain: Tell High Street brands to fix their dangerous factories
In April over 1,100 people died in Bangladesh when the Rana Plaza building collapsed. According to the TUC: “There has never been a clearer sign that all manufacturers and retailers need to lift dramatically their efforts to ensure that those making their clothes are doing so in safety and with dignity.”
TUC Going to Work website • Write to the eight brands now • TUC news release • Risks 622
Hazards news, 14 September 2013

Britain: ‘Dickensian’ site lands developer in court
A Plymouth property developer put the lives of builders at risk by letting them work near unprotected holes up to nine metres deep at a "Dickensian" site in Cardiff, a court has heard. John Pinn was refurbishing two Victorian terraced properties in November 2012 when the failings were uncovered by a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector following a complaint.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 621
Hazards news, 7 September 2013

Japan: Fukushima radiation levels shock
Radiation levels around Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant are 18 times higher than previously thought, Japanese authorities have warned. Readings taken near a leaking tank on 31 August showed radiation was high enough to prove lethal within four hours of exposure.
Common Dreams • BBC News Online • Risks 621
Hazards news, 7 September 2013

Thailand: Migrants face dire conditions on trawlers
Migrant workers on Thai trawlers are being subjected to violence, held captive and denied food to make them work for years on poverty wages, a new study has found. Researchers from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Asian Research Center on Migration at Chulalongkorn University say Thailand - the world's No.3 seafood exporter after China and Norway - either lacks comprehensive laws to protect poor migrants from exploitation or fails to enforce existing laws, such as those prohibiting the employment of children younger than 15 in fishing.
ILO news release • ABC News • Risks 621
Hazards news, 7 September 2013

USA: Austerity budget threatens work safety
The health and safety of America's workforce is on the line as politicians debate savage cuts to federal budgets, a new report has concluded. The Center for Effective Government report notes that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is already significantly under-funded and does not have the resources to do the job properly.
What's at stake: Austerity budgets threaten worker health and safety, Center for Effective Government, 2013 • Risks 621
Hazards news, 7 September 2013

Uzbekistan: Slave labour picks the cotton harvest
Uzbekistan’s cotton harvest, worth an estimated one billion US dollars annually, has a dirty secret. Approximately half of all Uzbekistan’s crop is picked by state-sponsored forced labour, says Aidan McQuade of Anti-Slavery International.
Equal Times • Write to your MEP • Risks 621
Hazards news, 7 September 2013

Britain: Probe over UK’s offshore helicopter safety record
A review of helicopter operations in the North Sea is to be launched by the oil industry in the wake of the Super Puma crash that killed four workers. The review comes amid concerns that the UK may have a poorer safety record than Norway.
Oil & Gas UK news release • Sunday Herald • Norwegian Work Environment Act • Risks 621
Hazards news, 7 September 2013

Britain: Chancellor slammed for deaths double-standard
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s tribute to four dead offshore workers has been condemned as “insulting”, by campaigners. They say while his government continues an unprecedented attack on workplace health and safety enforcement and resources, it is “inappropriate” for its second-in-command to feign concern for safety. George Osborne’s speech, 3 September 2013.  FACK statement • Daily Record • The Express • BBC News Online • Risks 621
Hazards news, 7 September 2013

Britain: Academic concern over safety of UK workplaces
Top safety academics from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have warned that the UK government’s safety strategy is not evidence-based and is leaving workers at greater risk of injury and disease. The eight experts, including Professors Matthias Beck from Queen’s University, Belfast, Steve Tombs from the Open University and David Walters from Cardiff University, write that government “lies and distortion” about business burdens and compensation culture should stop because “properly enforced regulation is good for the workforce, good for the economy and favours the responsible businesses over the corner-cutting rogues.”
The Herald • DWP health and safety webpages • Risks 621
Hazards news, 7 September 2013

Malawi: Your cuppa is someone else’s heartache
At the start of his eight-hour shift, tea picker Stephano James is already tired, but he is motivated by the prospect of meeting the day’s 44 kg tea leaf target. With no protective clothing or equipment other than a wicker basket tied with rope to his back, 23-year-old Stephano works through the early morning drizzle, picking the tender green tea leaves with his bare hands and stuffing them into the basket.
Equal Times • Risks 620
Hazards news, 31 August 2013

Tanzania: The hazardous lives of child gold miners
Children as young as eight years old are working in Tanzanian small-scale gold mines, with grave risks to their health and even their lives, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW). The group is calling on the Tanzanian government to curb child labour in small-scale mining, including at informal, unlicensed mines, and says the World Bank and donor countries should support these efforts.
HRW news release and video. Full report: Toxic Toil: Child Labor and Mercury Exposure in Tanzania’s Small-Scale Gold Mines • Risks 620
Hazards news, 31 August 2013

Britain: Pirelli in the dock over tyre factory injuries
Tyre manufacturer Pirelli has appeared in court after an employee sustained major injuries to his left arm when it became trapped in a tyre-testing machine. The 57-year-old from Carlisle, who has asked not to be named, broke his arm in three places, was off work for four months and still has difficulty moving his shoulder following the incident on 3 January 2012.
HSE news release and manufacturing webpages • Risks 620
Hazards news, 31 August 2013

Britain: Unguarded printing press mangles finger
A Norwich printing firm has been fined for criminal safety failings after a worker injured his finger in an unguarded machine. The 44-year-old employee was working for Swallowtail Print Ltd when the incident happened on 1 November 2012.
HSE news release and print machinery guide • Risks 620
Hazards news, 31 August 2013

Britain: Ecobuild convicted over building site ‘shambles’
A Kent building company has been convicted of criminal offences after failing repeatedly to manage risks on a construction site and exposing workers to a risk of injury. Canterbury Magistrates were told that the development site in Ramsgate, run by Ecobuild Homes Ltd, had been visited by Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors seven times between July and November 2012.
HSE news release and construction webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 620
Hazards news, 31 August 2013

Britain: Unions want offshore flight dangers sorted
Union leaders have called for all Super Puma helicopters to be grounded following the death of four people in a 23 August crash off Shetland. Operator CHC Helicopter suspended operations of other Super Puma AS332L2 helicopters until the cause of the crash is known.
Unite news release • CHC statement • Herald Scotland • BBC News Online • The Scotsman • Morning Star • Risks 620
Hazards news, 31 August 2013

Britain: RMT pushes for offshore safety improvements
The union RMT has held a rally in Aberdeen to press for improved safety in the offshore oil and gas industry. The 28 August rally was announced after a protest by the union outside helicopter operator CHC's base was called off.
RMT news release • The Guardian • BBC News Online • The Scotsman • Risks 620
Hazards news, 31 August 2013

Britain: Unite calls for urgent fatal accident reform
The Scottish government should fast-track Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) reforms in the wake of the helicopter tragedy off Shetland, Unite has said. The union has also called and for an emergency Scottish parliamentary debate into offshore health and safety following the fatal crash.
Unite news release • Risks 620
Hazards news, 31 August 2013

USA: BP sues US government over contracts ban
BP is suing the US government for barring the company from obtaining new federal contracts. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned BP last November, blaming the firm's “lack of business integrity” after the Deepwater Horizon explosion. CPR Blog • The Telegraph • Common Dreams • BBC News Online • Risks 619
Hazards news, 24 August 2013

New Zealand: Mines need safety oversight by workers
MPs in New Zealand have been told that check inspectors – a form of on-the-ground union safety inspector - should be present in all types of quarrying and tunnelling workplaces. The call came in submissions to a Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee hearing on a bill to implement health and safety changes following the Royal Commission into the Pike River mine tragedy in which 29 miners were killed in 2010.
Radio New Zealand • Risks 619
Hazards news, 24 August 2013

Australia: Unions slam complacency on toxic dispersants
Australia's offshore petroleum industry safety regulator must fully investigate the use of potentially deadly dispersants to clean up oil spills in Australia, the country’s national union federation ACTU has said. ACTU assistant Secretary Michael Borowick said reports on the Channel 9 TV programme 60 Minutes regarding dispersants used to clean up spills in Australia were deeply concerning, and that the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) needed to conduct a genuine and timely investigation, putting health and safety first.
ACTU news release • 60 Minutes • Australian Marine Conservation Society statement. NOPSEMA response to 60 minutes • Herald Sun • Risks 619
Hazards news, 24 August 2013

Britain: Textile worker dismissed after getting lung disease
A Suffolk textile firm that stopped health surveillance of workers using highly dangerous reactive dyes then dismissed a worker who developed lung disease as a result. The worker, who does not wish to be named, was employed at Gainsborough Silk Weaving Company Ltd in Sudbury as the dye house manager from 1993 to his dismissal by the company in 2012.
HSE news release and reactive dyes guide • Risks 619
Hazards news, 24 August 2013

Britain: Limo firm fined after seven get hand disease
A Bolton limousine and hearse manufacturer has been fined after seven employees developed a debilitating hand condition over a six and a half year period. Woodall Nicholson Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after the workers were diagnosed with Hand Arm Vibration syndrome (HAVS) as a result of almost daily use of hand-held equipment, such as grinders, saws and pneumatic tools, all of which constantly vibrate.
HSE news release and HAVS webpage • Manchester Evening News • Risks 619
Hazards news, 24 August 2013

Britain: Rolls Royce fined for vibration-related wrist injury
British engineering giant Rolls Royce has been fined after an employee was diagnosed with a debilitating condition in both arms that has left him with permanent nerve damage. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the company after Allan Thornewill, 55, from Derby, developed bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome after being exposed to high levels of vibration at the company's premises in Wilmore Road, Derby. HSE news release • Risks 619
Hazards news, 24 August 2013

Britain: Faulty rope cost outdoors instructor his leg
An outdoors activity instructor was left permanently disabled when he used a defective rope for a simulated parachute landing. Joshua Senior, 25, plunged some nine metres to the ground at the Rock (UK) adventure centre in Carroty Wood, near Tonbridge, Kent, on 25 August 2010; instead of allowing Mr Senior to descend in a measured way, the rope supplied by Pfeifer Rope & Tackle Ltd unravelled as he stepped off a platform for a practice descent.
HSE news release • Risks 619
Hazards news, 24 August 2013

Britain: Firm fined for failing to hold insurance
A Sunderland firm has been fined for failing to hold the statutory insurance that enables employees to claim compensation if they are injured at work. An investigation was carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following ‘information received’ suggesting Sun Spirit Ltd was uninsured. Sunderland Magistrates' Court heard that HSE inspectors found the company did not hold any Employer's Liability Compulsory Insurance between 9 February and 13 December 2012.
HSE news release • Risks 619
Hazards news, 24 August 2013

Italy: Enforced regulations make work safer
Efforts to ensure effective implementation of new health and safety regulations in Italy’s construction sector resulted in a drop in injury rates, a study has found. Researchers examined the impact of two new construction laws, implementing a European Union-wide directive on the management of temporary and mobile construction sites.
Elena Farina, Antonella Bena, Osvaldo Pasqualini and Giuseppe Costa. Are regulations effective in reducing construction injuries? An analysis of the Italian context, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, volume 70, pages 611-616, 2013 [abstract] • European Directive 92/57/EEC • Risks 618
Hazards news, 17 August 2013

New Zealand: Unions expose minister’s sly strategy
New Zealand’s labour minister has been caught by unions misrepresenting the recommendations of a Taskforce into a deadly mine explosion, in a bid to undermine the accountability of a new workplace health and safety regulator. The Taskforce into the November 2010 Pike River mine disaster in which 29 workers died said a new workplace health and safety regulator should be supported by a tripartite board, involving representatives of government, employers and employees - but a 40-page paper to the Cabinet from labour minister Simon Bridges this week instead claimed the Taskforce recommended that the board be supported by a more arms-length tripartite advisory group.
NZCTU news release • Proposal from the Office of the Minister of Labour • Taskforce report • Radio New Zealand • Risks 618
Hazards news, 17 August 2013

USA: Walmart admits ‘repeat and serious’ violations
Walmart has agreed to improve safety at more than 2,800 stores in 28 US states after inspectors discovered “repeat and serious” health and safety violations at a store in Rochester, New York. The agreement, which included a $190,000 fine, was negotiated by the federal safety regulator OSHA after it uncovered “unacceptable” safety hazards to employees at the Rochester store that were similar to those in Walmart locations in nine other states.
OUR Walmart statement • OSHA news release and full text of the agreement between Wal-Mart and OSHA • The Pump Handle • New York Times • USA Today • The Guardian • Democracy Now • Wall St Cheat Sheet • Risks 618
Hazards news, 17 August 2013

USA: Police spied on sweatshop activists
Suspicions that police routinely infiltrate anti-sweatshop and other labour rights campaign organisations in the US, have been given added credence after an undercover Washington DC police officer was caught masquerading as a campaigner and undermining campaign activities.
In These Times • Democracy Now • Risks 618
Hazards news, 17 August 2013

Britain: Illegal gangmaster ‘got off lightly’, says GLA chief
The chief executive of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) has said the suspended jail sentence imposed on a Wiltshire-based recruitment consultant - who systematically exploited around 60 Filipino workers and illegally supplied them to dairy farms across the UK - does not “fit the crime‟. Christopher James Blakeney – who admits he made £700,000 from the crimes - was handed 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years for each of four counts of acting as an unlicensed gangmaster, the sentences to run concurrently.
GLA news release • Risks 618
Hazards news, 17 August 2013

Britain: Trainee seriously injured in skylight fall
A Hertfordshire firm has been prosecuted for safety breaches after a trainee employee suffered serious injuries in an eight-metre fall from a roof. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the injured worker’s employer, Nature’s Power Ltd.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 618
Hazards news, 17 August 2013

Britain: Firm fined for back-breaking skylight fall
An Essex construction firm has been fined for safety failings after an employee broke his spine when he fell through a skylight opening at a construction site in Hampshire. His employer, Prestige Construction Services Ltd, was fined a total of £30,000 and ordered to pay £9,000 in costs after pleading guilty to criminal breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.
HSE news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 618
Hazards news, 17 August 2013

Britain: Steep rise in falls from height
The number of construction workers falling from height has increased by 60 per cent, according to news figures the Building Safety Group consultancy. It says the findings are based on accident reports in the three months from May until July by Building Safety Group’s membership of more than 20,000 construction workers across the UK.
Building Safety Group news • Construction Enquirer • Risks 618
Hazards news, 17 August 2013

Britain: Judge backs workers on protective footwear
Employers should provide protective footwear to staff who work outdoors, a court has ruled. The Court of Session in Edinburgh made the landmark ruling in a UNISON-backed legal case involving care worker Tracey Kennedy who fell on an icy path outside a patient's home.
Digby Brown Solicitors news release • Opinion of Lord McEwan • Glasgow Herald • BBC News Online • Risks 618
Hazards news, 17 August 2013

Britain: Boris plans to sack key Tube safety staff
A new safety row has erupted over secret plans hatched by Boris Johnson to close all 268 Tube offices across the capital in the next two years and axe thousands of jobs. The plans, which have been condemned as ‘foolish’ by the rail union TSSA, were revealed by the London Evening Standard.
TSSA news release • London Evening Standard • BBC News Online • Risks 618
Hazards news, 17 August 2013

Global: Unions are great for health and the economy
A union presence has a strong positive effect on the health of the workforce and the economy, a Europe-wide study has found. Researchers Maureen Dollard and Daniel Neser from the University of South Australia combined five different data sets canvassing 31 wealthy European countries, including the UK; they found 13 per cent of the variance in national life expectancy could be explained by differences in worker self-reported health and national gross domestic product (GDP) – and unions were a key factor explaining these differences.
Maureen F Dollard and Daniel Y Neser. Worker health is good for the economy: Union density and psychosocial safety climate as determinants of country differences in worker health and productivity in 31 European countries, Social Science & Medicine, volume 92, pages 114–123, September 2013 • Risks 617
Hazards news, 10 August 2013

Britain: TUC hits back after new compo attacks
The TUC has criticised a new push by insurers and the government to limit access to compensation. The union rebuttal came after Axa chief Paul Evans told the Daily Telegraph that “compensation culture is becoming a real issue for society”, and justice minister Helen Grant said: “We are turning the tide on the compensation culture which has pushed up the cost of insurance for drivers, schools and business – and taking another important step to reducing the cost of living for ordinary people.”
Ministry of Justice news release • Thompsons Solicitors news release. • Daily Telegraph • Robbed!, Hazards magazine • Risks 617
Hazards news, 10 August 2013

Britain: STUC backs move to reform fatalities inquiries
The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is backing a probe into Scotland’s “failing” Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) system. The union body was commenting after Patricia Ferguson MSP announced she intends to introduce a members’ bill to radically amend the Fatal Accident and Sudden Deaths Inquiries (Scotland) Act 1976, which has been criticised for placing a lack of emphasis on lessons being learned and for excluding the families of the deceased from the process.
STUC news release and FAI consultation. • Patricia Ferguson MSP news release •
Stockline disaster website • Risks 617
Hazards news, 10 August 2013

Britain: Boris putting lives at risk from fire
A decision by London mayor Boris Johnson to overrule the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and impose £35 million of cuts will put the lives of Londoners at risk, firefighters’ union FBU has warned. Ian Leahair, FBU executive member for London, said: “The cuts are dangerous and wrong, and this is devastating news for Londoners, with lives across the capital being put at risk by the mayor’s reckless cuts.”
FBU news release • Boris Johnson’s decision • Risks 617
Hazards news, 10 August 2013

Britain: Engineering firm disabled safety interlocks
An employee injured his hand on a machine at an engineering firm where a safety lock had been deliberately disabled. The worker, who does not wish to be named, almost lost a finger whilst trying to clear swarf (metal debris) from a large Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) milling machine at Quickmach Engineering Pressings Ltd in Cinderford on 12 November 2012.
HSE news release and risk webpages • Risks 617
Hazards news, 10 August 2013

Britain: Director escapes with a fine for street crimes
A Buckinghamshire construction company and its managing director have been fined for multiple safety failings following the total collapse of two large properties in Westminster. Ethos Construction Solutions Limited and sole director Pritish Lad were prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
HSE news release and construction webpages • Risks 617
Hazards news, 10 August 2013

Britain: New union safety website for journalists
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has launched a website dedicated to the safety and protection of media. The global union says the website will provide a one stop portal for all IFJ activities to promote the safety of journalists and to combat the apparent impunity for violence targeting media.
IFJ news release and safety website • NUJ news release • Risks 617
Hazards news, 10 August 2013

Global: Low labour standards blight hi-tech industries
When China’s largest exporter teamed up with arguably the world’s most prestigious hi-tech brand, there was one clear loser – the workers whose suicide-inducing, intensified labour fed the success of the two multinationals. This is the conclusion of a special issue of the academic journal New Technology, Work and Employment.
Debra Howcroft and Phil Taylor. Editorial: ‘Harvesting a bitter fruit'—work and labour in China's consumer electronics supply chain, New Technology, Work and Employment
volume 28, issue 2, page 83, July 2013.
Jenny Chan. A suicide survivor: the life of a Chinese worker, New Technology, Work and Employment, volume 28, issue 2, pages 84-99, July 2013.
Jenny Chan, Ngai Pun and Mark Selden. The politics of global production: Apple, Foxconn and China's new working class, New Technology, Work and Employment, volume 28, issue 2, pages 100-115, July 2013.
The Guardian • More on work-related suicides • Risks 617
Hazards news, 10 August 2013

USA: Treating workers fairly is good business
Fair working standards for construction workers and financial profit for developers aren’t incompatible, according to a new report from the Workers Defense Project. Instead the report from the Texas-based advocacy group concludes consumers are willing to pay more to live in places built on principles of safety, economic justice and dignity.
The Pump Handle • Green Jobs for Downtown Austin: Exploring the Consumer Market for Sustainable Buildings, University of Texas Center for Sustainable Development/Texas Workers’ Defense Project, 2013 • Risks 617
Hazards news, 10 August 2013

USA: Respirators don’t protect you from fracking dust
Workers involved in ‘fracking’ are being exposed to levels of carcinogenic silica up to 10 times the US recommended limit, a study has found. Researchers from the US government occupational health research institute NIOSH looked at worker exposures during hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations and also found the most commonly used type of respirator, the half-mask air-purifying respirator, might not provide enough protection for workers.
Esswein EJ, Breitenstein M, Snawder J, Kiefer M, Sieber WK. Occupational exposures to respirable crystalline silica during hydraulic fracturing, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (JOEH), volume 10, number 7, pages 347-56, 2013 [abstract] • EHS Today • Risks 617
Hazards news, 10 August 2013

Canada: Why making a killing involves killing
It turns out that Canadians are far more likely to be killed by their bosses’ negligence or corporate cost-cutting than by street criminals. The Vancouver Sun reports that in most years in Canada more than 500 people will be murdered, but each year close to twice that many die “in what we have been taught to call workplace ‘accidents,’ needlessly crushed, scalded, slashed, electrocuted and poisoned.”
Vancouver Sun • Still Dying for a Living • Risks 616
Hazards news, 3 August 2013

China: Apple faces new worker abuse claims
Technology giant Apple is facing fresh allegations of worker rights violations at the Chinese factories of one of its suppliers, the Pegatron Group. China Labor Watch (CLW) has alleged that three Pegatron factories violate a “great number of international and Chinese laws and standards.”
CLW report • Apple response • BBC News Online • Fox Business • Risks 616
Hazards news, 3 August 2013

Global: Caged chickens and caged workers
Abusive conditions in the poultry industry are proving harmful to both workers and consumers, unions in Australia and the US have warned.
Working Life news release and Better Jobs 4 Better Chicken campaign • IUF news release • Risks 616
Hazards news, 3 August 2013

Britain: Oil firms still paying for Deepwater Horizon
The criminal neglect that led to the Deepwater Horizon disaster is continuing to hurt the reputation and bottom line of the companies involved. London-based oil multinational BP has admitted the $20bn compensation fund it set up to pay claims related to the 2010 rig failure, which killed 11 workers and smeared the Gulf of Mexico in oil, is running out of cash.
BP Second Quarter 2013 results • BBC News Online • Risks 616
Hazards news, 3 August 2013

USA: Halliburton admits it destroyed death rig evidence
Halliburton, the US contractor responsible for cementing the Deepwater Horizon well, has agreed to plead guilty to destroying evidence relating to the tragedy. The plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, means Halliburton will have to pay the maximum possible fine.
Halliburton news release. and BBC News Online • Risks 616
Hazards news, 3 August 2013

Britain: Ministers urged to support the safety regulator
The government should support the UK’s “world class” health and safety regulator with more resources, and rethink plans to exempt many workers from laws designed to protect them and others, the safety professionals’ body IOSH has said. IOSH head of policy and public affairs Richard Jones said: “Our submission strongly supports the continued need for HSE and its current delivery model, as ‘arm’s length’ from government ministers, and emphasises the need for better resourcing.”
IOSH news release and full IOSH submission • Risks 616
Hazards news, 3 August 2013

Britain: Firms fined for quarry blast damage
Two companies have been fined after a quarry explosion sent rocks flying 200 metres into the air and onto a public road, causing damage to waiting cars. Frome-based WCD Sleeman and Sons Ltd, who organised the blast, and quarry operator Hanson Quarry Products Europe Ltd were both prosecuted after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identified serious control failings.
HSE news release and quarries webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 616
Hazards news, 3 August 2013

Britain: Coastguard shifts staffed below safe levels
More than one quarter of coastguard watches in the UK were staffed below safe levels last summer, according to official figures obtained by the union PCS. According to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) data, more than 3,300 of a total of 15,000 watches – across 15 stations where figures were available – were staffed below the risk assessed levels between January 2012 and May 2013.
PCS news release • Risks 616
Hazards news, 3 August 2013

Britain: Factory deaths were due to safety failures
Two men killed while working at a Merseyside factory died because the plant had failed to adopt the right procedures, an inquest has found. James Bibby, 25, and Thomas Elmer, 27, were carrying out maintenance work on the conveyor of a silo at the Sonae chipboard plant in Kirkby when the machine started moving and they were dragged into it.
Liverpool Echo • BBC News Online • Risks 615
Hazards news, 27 July 2013

Britain: Worker was dragged in to a rotating spindle
A Shropshire steel engineering company has been fined after a worker got the sleeve of his overalls caught in an unguarded drill bit, leading to serious neck and arm injuries. Shrewsbury Magistrates' Court was told that CRF (UK) Ltd failed to take effective measures to prevent access to dangerous moving parts of the equipment at its premises in Wem.
HSE news release • Risks 615
Hazards news, 27 July 2013

Bangladesh: Top brands must now compensate victims
The injured survivors and the bereaved relatives of those killed in the Tazreen factory fire and the Rana Plaza building collapse must be paid fair compensation by international brands as a priority, unions and campaigners have said. IndustriALL, the global union for the garment sector, is organising meetings in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka on 11 and 12 August to press the case for justice.
IndustriALL news release. Clean Clothes Campaign news release • Risks 615
Hazards news, 27 July 2013

Japan: More Fukushima workers face cancer risk
Around 2,000 people who have worked at Japan's wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant face a heightened risk of thyroid cancer, its operator admitted last week. Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said 1,973 people - around 10 per cent of those employed in emergency crews involved in the clean-up since the meltdowns - were believed to have been exposed to enough radiation to cause problems, a 10-fold increase on TEPCO's previous estimate of the number of potential thyroid cancer victims.
Huffington Post • Risks 615
Hazards news, 27 July 2013

USA: Health care has highest injury risk
Hospital staff in the US top the league table for work-related injuries, a new study has found. A report from researchers at the Public Citizen thinktank found that in 2010, healthcare workers reported 653,900 workplace injuries and illnesses, over four times higher (432 per cent) than manufacturing, the industry second on the list, despite health care only being 134 per cent bigger.
Health Care Workers Unprotected: Insufficient Inspections and Standards Leave Safety Risks Unaddressed, Public Citizen, July 2013. In These Times • Huffington Post • National COSH blog • Risks 615
Hazards news, 27 July 2013

Britain: Businesses get privileged say on regulatory plans
The government says a new scheme introduced this week “gives businesses a stronger voice in influencing how regulators change the way they work,” gifting the business lobby the box seat on regulatory issues. Under the new Accountability for Regulator Impact scheme non-economic regulators including the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that are planning a significant change in policy or practice – for example, by updating guidance or inspection regimes - must “assess and quantify the impact of that change on business,” says the business department (BIS).
BIS news release and Accountability for Regulator Impact (ARI) process • Risks 615
Hazards news, 27 July 2013

Britain: Decline in work safety checks is ‘not acceptable’
The dramatic decline in the number of workplace safety inspections carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in Scotland “is shocking” and “unacceptable” a Labour MP has said. The new inspection figures come after official statistics released this month revealed there had been a sharp rise in workplace fatalities in Scotland.
The Herald • Risks 615
Hazards news, 27 July 2013

Britain: Why didn’t mine act on fire warnings?
Mine safety inspectors urged management to close part of a coal mine months before a devastating underground fire broke out. The blaze closed Daw Mill Colliery earlier this year, leaving hundreds of miners out of work and forcing part of the company into administration.
BBC News online and File on 4 • Risks 615
Hazards news, 27 July 2013

Britain: Rail casualisation is a dangerous rip off
Contractors are using bogus self-employment on zero hours contracts to rip off rail workers and create a cut-price and dangerous railway system, according to a new report from the rail union RMT. The report was released on 23 July, to coincide with a meeting between the rail unions and the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) where the union demanded that both the industry watchdog and Network Rail “take urgent and decisive action to stamp out casualisation in the rail industry which is hitting the workforce and compromising safety.”
RMT news release and report: The Great Rail Payroll Rip Off •  Safety on the line, BBC Radio 4 Face the Facts • Risks 615
Hazards news, 27 July 2013

Britain: Government makes it easier to sack workers
The specialists’ union Prospect has condemned a government move which will make it “easier and cheaper” to sack workers from next week. The union was commenting on “appalling new cuts to workers' rights” to take effect from 29 July.
Prospect news release • Risks 615
Hazards news, 27 July 2013

New gangmaster rules mean more rogue agencies
A Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) announcement that it is to stop carrying out automatic inspections of all companies applying for a new GLA licence could lead to an increase in rogue employment agencies, the TUC has warned. From October the GLA will no longer automatically send an inspector to check that agency workers are being paid properly and working under safe conditions before it grants a business or employment agency a licence to operate - instead, these checks will become “discretionary”.
TUC news release • GLA news release • Risks 615
Hazards news, 27 July 2013

Global: Justice call for South African silicosis victims
Former workers suffering silicosis after working for a UK-based gold mining multinational must be given justice and compensation, campaigners have demanded. A letter to the Guardian co-authored by TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady notes that tens of thousands of gold miners working under the apartheid system were not protected from dust, exposures the industry “knew was causing them to contract silicosis in droves.”
The Guardian • ACTSA • Leigh Day and Co • Risks 615
Hazards news, 27 July 2013

Britain: Recycling plant chops off finger
Two businesses have been prosecuted for safety failings after an employee's hand was caught in a saw, resulting in debilitating injuries. In a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Caerphilly Magistrates' Court heard that the 33-year-old man from Nantyglo was operating a saw to cut lengths of lead into smaller, more manageable pieces at the Jamestown Industries lead recycling plant in Ebbw Vale on 21 February 2012.
HSE news release and machinery webpages • Risks 614
Hazards news, 20 July 2013

Bangladesh: New labour law ‘falls short’
Amendments to Bangladesh’s labour law make some improvements but still fall far short of protecting worker’s rights and meeting international standards, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). It says donors and international investors should press the government of Bangladesh to make further amendments to the law “to fully ensure workers’ rights to form unions, bargain collectively, and participate in workplace decisions on safety.”
Human Rights Watch news release • First Post • Risks 614
Hazards news, 20 July 2013

China: Dust activist pays for double-lung transplant
Four years ago, a young Chinese migrant worker, Zhang Haichao, came to global prominence after voluntarily undergoing surgery to prove he was suffering from the deadly occupational lung disease pneumoconiosis. Zhang, who has paid for a lifesaving double lung transplant, used his experiences to highlight the plight of dust exposed workers in China and is pressing for decent compensation for other affected workers.
China Labour Bulletin • Risks 614
Hazards news, 20 July 2013

Britain: Recycling plant chops off finger
Two businesses have been prosecuted for safety failings after an employee's hand was caught in a saw, resulting in debilitating injuries. In a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Caerphilly Magistrates' Court heard that the 33-year-old man from Nantyglo was operating a saw to cut lengths of lead into smaller, more manageable pieces at the Jamestown Industries lead recycling plant in Ebbw Vale on 21 February 2012.
HSE news release and machinery webpages • Risks 614
Hazards news, 20 July 2013

Bangladesh: New labour law ‘falls short’
Amendments to Bangladesh’s labour law make some improvements but still fall far short of protecting worker’s rights and meeting international standards, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). It says donors and international investors should press the government of Bangladesh to make further amendments to the law “to fully ensure workers’ rights to form unions, bargain collectively, and participate in workplace decisions on safety.”
Human Rights Watch news release • First Post • Risks 614
Hazards news, 20 July 2013

China: Dust activist pays for double-lung transplant
Four years ago, a young Chinese migrant worker, Zhang Haichao, came to global prominence after voluntarily undergoing surgery to prove he was suffering from the deadly occupational lung disease pneumoconiosis. Zhang, who has paid for a lifesaving double lung transplant, used his experiences to highlight the plight of dust exposed workers in China and is pressing for decent compensation for other affected workers.
China Labour Bulletin • Risks 614
Hazards news, 20 July 2013

Britain: MPs fear over HSE site safety shift
An anticipated move by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) which would remove the legal requirement on contractors to establish their sub-contractors are “competent” has alarmed MPs. An early day motion tabled by Labour MP Jim Sheridan urges “the government and HSE to consider retaining the reference, to ensure the principal contractor always has responsibility for checking all those working on a site are competent.”
Skills safety in the construction sector, EDM 387, July 2013 • Risks 614
Hazards news, 20 July 2013

Britain: Developer escapes jail over asbestos crimes
A property developer who exposed workers to asbestos has been given an eight-month suspended prison sentence and been ordered to pay fines and costs of £100,000. Nottingham Crown Court heard that James Roger Carlton, 64, ignored the presence of asbestos insulation board at the site of the former King Edward VI School in Retford, despite being advised by the Health and Safety Executive on several occasions about how to address the risk.
HSE news release and asbestos webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 614
Hazards news, 20 July 2013

Britain: Scaffolding firm sentenced over worker's death
Atherton-based S&S Scaffolding Ltd has been ordered to pay more than £100,000 in fines and costs following the death of an employee who plunged 13 metres through the roof of a Skelmersdale warehouse. Tony Causby, 42, was helping to dismantle scaffolding when he stepped onto a fragile skylight and fell to the floor below.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 614
Hazards news, 20 July 2013

Britain: Fines over PC’s work gunshot death
A police force and one of its officers have been fined for criminal health and safety failings that led to a constable being shot dead. PC Ian Terry, 32, was shot by a colleague during a firearms training session at a disused warehouse in Newton Heath, Manchester on 9 June 2008.
HSE news release • BBC News Online • Risks 614
Hazards news, 20 July 2013

Britain: Strike vote over firefighter pensions plan
Firefighters are to vote on strike action over an ‘unworkable’ pension scheme proposal they say could lead to thousands facing the sack as they get older. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) decision to hold a strike vote after almost two years of negotiations was prompted when Westminster set a 12 July deadline for firefighters to accept the government proposals — or face imposition of the changes.
FBU news release • Firefighters' pension scheme: proposed final agreement, DCLG, July 2013. • Risks 614
Hazards news, 20 July 2013

Britain: Spat over railway safety claims
Rail union RMT has accused the Office of Rail Regulation of “complacency” after it boasted about the rail system’s safety record when the same report shows injuries to track workers have increased. General secretary Bob Crow said: “The fact is that it is the ORR that is demanding the cuts that are leading to the casualisation of safety-critical track work and the ushering in of a zero-hours culture.”
ORR news release and annual health and safety report • SHP Online • Risks 614
Hazards news, 20 July 2013

Britain: Mechanic escapes death in explosion horror
A heavy goods vehicle mechanic suffered life-threatening injuries after a makeshift heating system exploded at work. Unite member David Loade, 52, who worked at a Wincanton Group transport depot in Gloucestershire, suffered severe burns to his face and hands after he was instructed to help his supervisor replace a 45-gallon drum being used to burn wood pellets.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 614
Hazards news, 20 July 2013

Britain: Cable to hold directors to account – sometimes
Government proposals to make company directors more accountable are “complete double standards” that treat financial misconduct with far greater seriousness than the deadly safety abuses by those running firms, the TUC has charged.
BIS news release and Transparency and trust: enhancing the transparency of UK company ownership and increasing trust in UK business - discussion paper, July 2013. BBC News Online • Risks 614
Hazards news, 20 July 2013

Britain: NUJ action call as EDL ‘thugs’ threaten journalist
Members of the English Defence League have been strongly condemned for harassment and threats of violence targeted at a young reporter. Sarah Marshall, a trainee reporter on the Doncaster Free Press, was threatened on the Casuals United website over an incident at an EDL rally in Sheffield six weeks ago.
NUJ news release • Hold the Front Page • Prolific North • Risks 614
Hazards news, 20 July 2013

Canada: ‘Deplorable’ rail boss blames others for blast
The owner of a rail firm with a poor safety record whose train exploded decimating a Canadian community in a disaster believed to be responsible for up to 60 deaths has attempted to shift the blame to the train driver and the emergency responders. The behaviour of Edward Burkhardt, the president and chief executive officer of US-based rail freight firm Rail World Inc, was described by Quebec premier Pauline Marois as “deplorable.”
Rail World news release • CounterPunch • BBC News Online and related story • Oilprice.com • The Independent •  NBC News • Reuters video • Risks 613
Hazards news, 13 July 2013

China: Denim workers pay a deadly price
Governments and companies must take urgent action to stamp out the continued use of sandblasting and other unsafe finishing processes in the manufacture of denim jeans, campaigners have said. The call comes in a new report into conditions in six denim factories in the Chinese province of Guangdong, a region responsible for half of the world’s entire production of denim jeans.
Clean Clothes Campaign news release and report, Breathless for Blue Jeans: Health hazards in China’s denim factories • Huffington Post • Risks 613
Hazards news, 13 July 2013

Global: Walmart and Gap deal ‘a pale imitation’
An attempt by retailers Walmart and Gap to create an alternative to an astoundingly successful union brokered Bangladesh fire and safety accord has been dismissed as a sham and ‘a pale imitation’. The accord spearheaded by global unions IndustriALL and UNI is set to be implemented ahead of schedule and has already been backed by over 80 global brands from 15 countries.
IndustriALL news release • UNI news release • The Guardian • The Walmart/Gap sham alliance. • Risks 613
Hazards news, 13 July 2013

New Zealand: Mine union calls for manslaughter law
A New Zealand mining union has called for the introduction of a corporate manslaughter law after a judge ordered bankrupt New Zealand mining company Pike River Coal to pay compensation to the families of 29 miners killed in a 2010 methane explosion. Ged O’Connell, assistant national secretary of the mining union EPMU, said a law change is needed to ensure those responsible for workplace deaths can be held to account.
EPMU news release • New Zealand Herald. • Morning Star • The Courier • Greymouth Star. • Radio Australia • Risks 613
Hazards news, 13 July 2013

Britain: Firms get deregulation and clamour for more
Government crowing about its ongoing erosion of safety and other laws protecting workers has fuelled industry calls for the process to be accelerated. A ‘Statement of New Regulation’ lists “progress” including changes to employment tribunals that will make it extremely costly to challenge employer health and safety abuses, the revision of the workplace injury and disease reporting regulations that will dramatically reduce official intelligence on the harm caused by work and the end of strict liability compensation, which will mean so employers in criminal breach of safety law can’t be sued for damages.
BIS news release and Statement of New Regulation • IoD news release • BCC news release • ‘We love red tape’ facebook page • Risks 613
Hazards news, 13 July 2013

Britain: Cameron’s Piper Alpha elegy branded as ‘despicable’
David Cameron’s elegy to the 167 who died in the Piper Alpha oil rig inferno has been condemned as “absolutely despicable” by safety campaigners, who say no prime minister has done more to undermine UK workplace safety protections. In an open letter to Malcolm Webb, chief executive of Oil & Gas UK, Cameron wrote: “The 25th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster is a fitting moment to mark the skill, bravery and dedicated professionalism of all those who work offshore.”
Prime minister’s office news release and PM’s letter • Morning Star • BBC News Online • The Guardian • Risks 613
Hazards news, 13 July 2013

Britain: Local authorities under ‘crippling pressure’
The environmental health departments responsible for enforcing workplace, food and consumer safety are under “crippling pressure” from budget cuts, peers have heard. Labour’s Lord Watson of Invergorie said the government was guilty of slashing workplace health and safety inspections, adding this “allows some employers to make a risk assessment - not about their workers’ safety but about the likelihood of being found out for failing to comply with health and safety legislation.”
House of Lords debate on Local authorities: Regulatory Services, 27 June 2013, Hansard report • EHN Online • Risks 613
Hazards news, 13 July 2013

Britain: Plumber killed by rocketing gas cylinders
A plumber died and six other workers were seriously injured by a volley of flying gas cylinders, a court has heard. Adam Johnston, 38, was hit by one of 66 cylinders as they rocketed at speeds of up to 170 mph at an HSBC data centre construction site.
HSE news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 613
Hazards news, 13 July 2013

Britain: Worker is left paralysed by roof fall
A construction company and a roofing contractor have been fined after a worker was left paralysed from the waist down when he plunged four metres through a hole in a roof at a Swindon building site. Giovanni Mastrodomenico, 56, fell through a waterproof membrane into the unguarded hole while working at the Marlborough Park development on 31 August 2011.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 613
Hazards news, 13 July 2013

Britain: Gassed? HSE doesn’t want to know
A much worse than anticipated scaling back of injury reporting rules has been described as a “dangerous” move driven by a government that doesn’t care about the harm its policies inflict on workers. Under the new scheme being rendered unconscious by an electric shock or as a result of exposure to chemicals or biological agents will no longer be reportable; dislocations of the spine, shoulder, knee or hip are also dropped from the list, as is temporary blindness. 
HSE news release and RIDDOR changes and related guide • UCATT news release • Risks 613
Hazards news, 13 July 2013

Britain: Children's lives will be at greater risk on farms
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is putting children’s lives at risk by scrapping guidance covering their safety on farms, the union Unite has warned. The union was speaking out after HSE announced it was to withdraw the Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) on children in agriculture.
Unite news release • Risks 613
Hazards news, 13 July 2013

Britain: Unions to fight driverless trains
Rail union RMT has pledged an all-out political, public and industrial fight following the announcement from Transport for London (TfL) to introduce Driver Only Operation (DOO) on the whole of the London Overground network.
RMT news release • Morning Star • Risks 613
Hazards news, 13 July 2013

Britain: Concerns remain despite site deaths fall
Construction union UCATT has said it is “extremely concerned” that the 20 per cent reduction in construction deaths last year could be reversed as the industry emerges from its current lull. Steve Murphy, general secretary of UCATT, said: “Workers are still being killed when the construction output is at its lowest level for a generation.”
UCATT news release • HSE statistics • Construction Enquirer • Risks 613
Hazards news, 13 July 2013

Global: US suspends Bangladesh trade concessions
Pressure is mounting on Bangladesh to reform its labour laws with the decision of the US government to impose trade sanctions for repeated failure to respect workers’ rights. “This long-awaited decision is an important step for workers’ rights,” said ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow, adding: “It sends a strong statement to all governments and employers that violation of the fundamental rights of workers will not be tolerated if a country expects to participate in the global economy.”
ITUC news release • AFL-CIO statement • BBC News Online • In These Times • Risks 612
Hazards news, 6 July 2013

Britain: Father and son jailed for work manslaughter
A father and son have been jailed after being found guilty of the manslaughter of a fatigued driver employed at their haulage firm. Adrian John McMurray, 54, and his son Adrian Paul McMurray, 36, were convicted on 10 May 2013 for the manslaughter of Stephen Kenyon and jailed for seven and four years respectively.
CPS news release • BBC News Online • Risks 612
Hazards news, 6 July 2013

Britain: Crane lift errors caused platform collapse
Hertfordshire construction company J Reddington Ltd (JRL) has been fined for criminal safety failings after a worker was seriously injured when a temporary platform collapsed. Noel Doyle, 32, suffered a shattered right elbow, broken vertebrae, fractured pelvis and ribs, and damage to internal organs in the incident on 10 February 2009.
HSE news release and construction webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 612
Hazards news, 6 July 2013

Britain: Vending machine firm fined after roof fall
An employee at a vending machine supplier in Skelmersdale was lucky to escape with minor injuries after he fell through a fragile roof, a court has heard. The 40-year-old from Runcorn, who has asked not to be named, had been clearing out the gutters at Paragon International Ltd on 4 September last year when he fell approximately six metres through a roof light.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 612
Hazards news, 6 July 2013

Global: Deadly fires unite firefighters
The death of 19 firefighters battling a US wildfire and a giant blaze in the West Midlands that saw a number of UK firefighters injured illustrate the terrible dangers they can face every day, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has said. The US firefighters were killed on Sunday 30 June battling a fast-moving wildfire menacing the small central Arizona town of Yarnell.
FBU news release • AFL-CIO Now blog • New York Times • BBC News Online • Risks 612
Hazards news, 6 July 2013

Britain: ASLEF welcomes rail crossings inquiry
Train drivers’ union ASLEF has welcomed a decision by MPs to investigate safety on level crossings. The union was commenting after the House of Commons Transport Select Committee said it would hold an inquiry into the safety of 8,000 level crossings in Britain and the day before Network Rail was fined £500,000 and ordered to pay costs of £23,421 for the criminal breaches of workplace safety law that led to a 10 year old boy suffering serious injuries at a level crossing in Suffolk in 2010.
ASLEF news release • ORR news release • Risks 612
Hazards news, 6 July 2013

Britain: No room for complacency as work fatalities fall
New statistics showing a sharp fall in worker fatalities are welcome, but only reflect a tiny proportion of the deadly harm caused by work, the TUC has said. The union body was commenting after provisional Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures revealed the number of worker deaths in Great Britain had dropped from 172 in 2011/12 to a provisional figure of 148 in 2012/13.
TUC news release  and TUC health and safety facebook page.
HSE news release, statistics webpage and provisional HSE fatality statistics 2012/13 • Risks 612
Hazards news, 6 July 2013

Britain: Concern at high fatality rate in Scotland
The Scottish parliament should look at why the country has a higher workplace fatality rate than the rest of the UK, the Scottish Trades Union Congress has said. STUC’s call came after new Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures showed workplace deaths in Scotland rose from 19 in 2011/12 to 22 in 2012/13; the Scottish fatality rate of 0.9 deaths per 100,000 compares to 0.5 for both England and Great Britain as a whole. STUC news release • HSE news release • Risks 612
Hazards news, 6 July 2013

Britain: Deregulation Bill will cost workers dear
A draft Deregulation Bill published on 1 July will leave workers at greater risk of injury, ill-health and abuse at work. The Cabinet Office says the planned law will exempt 800,000 self-employed workers from safety law, restrict the powers of employment tribunals, limit the enforcement powers of the gangmasters’ watchdog GLA and put “a deregulatory ‘growth duty’ on non-economic regulators, bringing the huge resource of 50 regulators with a budget of £4 billion to bear on the crucial task of promoting growth and stopping pointless red tape.”
TUC news release and TUC briefing on the Deregulation Bill and the self-employed exemption • Cabinet Office news release and Draft Deregulation Bill • HSE news release • Risks 612
Hazards news, 6 July 2013

Global: World Bank told to end deregulation push
An independent review panel has told the World Bank it should stop using its ‘flagship’ Doing Business report to encourage governments to adopt deregulatory policies. The review cited Georgia as a country that saw a ‘substantial’ improvement in its Doing Business ranking in 2007 partly as a result of scrapping worker protections: “They went to the point of abolishing their health and safety agency,” said Peter Bakvis, Washington DC director of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
ITUC news release • TUC Touchstone blog • CAFOD response • Risks 611
Hazards news, 29 June 2013

Britain: Bereaved families are furious at ministers
The families of people killed at work have said they are “furious” at the government’s ‘dangerous’ and ‘inaccurate’ slant on the laws protecting young people on work experience. In a scathing rebuke to ministers, Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK) said their open letter to employers had set out to “mislead” them into believing there were no special duties to protect young people at work.
FACK news release • DWP/HSE news release • TUC Stronger Unions blog • Risks 611
Hazards news, 29 June 2013

Britain: Young worker killed by unsafe tractor
A leading cheese company has been fined after a farm worker was killed when the tractor she was driving overturned. Kim Webb, 26, was thrown from the vehicle, which had no seatbelt or roll bar protection, as she drove to check on cattle at the dairy farm in June 2009.
HSE news release and tractor safety webpage • BBC News Online • Risks 611
Hazards news, 29 June 2013

Britain: Network Rail safety failures want a £10m bonus
Network Rail bosses who have missed punctuality and safety targets for two years have drawn up a new long term bonus plan which could earn them multi-million pound payouts over the next three years, rail union TSSA has revealed. The scheme, to be approved at the taxpayer funded firm's July AGM, will pay out up to 100 per cent of annual salaries on top of an annual bonus of up to 60 per cent up to 2015.
TSSA news release • Morning Star • Risks 611
Hazards news, 29 June 2013

Britain: Granddad dies in skylight plunge
A man working alongside his brother died after plunging six metres through a fragile skylight. A court heard the tragedy occurred because safety measures were neglected both by his employer and a major drinks wholesaler. Robert Rogers, 61, was working for Richard Parker, trading as Ovenden Engineering, which had been contracted by Allied Domecq Spirits and Wine Ltd to fix a leak in the roof and clean the gutters of their bonded warehouse in Dover, Kent.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Construction Enquirer
Hazards news, 29 June 2013

Britain: The government’s ‘sinister spin’ is out of control
There is a growing tendency for government ministers to put their own skewed and deregulatory infused ‘spin’ on official health and safety announcements, the TUC has revealed. TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson said recent Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) news releases, posted on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website, “have been completely misleading or even inaccurate by putting a deregulatory slant to the release.”
TUC Stronger Unions blog. • CIEH news release • DWP/HSE news releases on the enforcement code and the work experience • Risks 611
Hazards news, 29 June 2013

Britain: ‘Feeble’ HSE fails children on farms
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is putting children’s lives at risk by scrapping guidance covering their safety on farms, rural workers’ union Unite has warned. The union was speaking out after the HSE board this week approved a proposal to withdraw the Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) on children in agriculture.
Unite news release • HSE 26 June 2013 board paper on the ACoP on children in agriculture. • Risks 611
Hazards news, 29 June 2013

Britain: Protecting vulnerable workers is not ‘red tape’
Government plans to strip the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) of powers to regulate the forestry sector, land agents and cleaning contractors operating in the food processing industry will put thousands of vulnerable workers at risk, the TUC has warned. The union body says instead of reducing the scope of the GLA, its remit should be extended to other high risk sectors including construction, hospitality and social care.
TUC news release • Government consultation on changes to the remit of the GLA • Morning Star • The Independent • Risks 611
Hazards news, 29 June 2013

Britain: Unions love the ‘We love red tape’ campaign
A ‘We love red tape’ campaign extolling the virtues of stringent workplace safety regulation and enforcement has won the backing of unions and campaigners in the UK and beyond. The facebook initiative by the workers’ health and safety journal Hazards notes workplace red tape is not a burden on business but does offer essential, life-saving protection for workers.
‘Like’ the We love red tape facebook page • Workplace safety criminals should be tied up with Red Tape poster
Hazards news, 29 June 2013

Britain: Cost-cutting rail contractors could cost lives
Profit-hungry contractors are putting passengers’ lives at risk by flooding the railways with untrained casual staff, rail workers have warned. Rail contractors are sending casual workers to carry out “critical” tasks like track maintenance for Network Rail in order to cut costs, delegates at RMT’s 24 June conference heard.
Morning Star • Risks 611
Hazards news, 29 June 2013

Britain: Rail regulator could leave safety at risk
Rail union TSSA has criticised the Office of Rail Regulation’s call for a £2 billion cut in the Network Rail’s five year spending plans, warning it puts safety and standards at risk. TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes warned: “It will mean a slower, less efficient and less safe railway.”
TSSA news release • Risks 610
Hazards news, 22 June 2013

Britain: Unions welcome Miliband’s safety pledge
Unions have welcomed a commitment from Ed Miliband to reverse the current government’s attacks on health and safety at work. Ed Miliband said: “David Cameron’s Conservative Party might dismiss health and safety issues in the workplace, but it is not their safety at risk,” adding: “The Labour Party is committed to turning this round.”
UCATT news release • Risks 610
Hazards news, 22 June 2013

Britain: You choose – red tape or bloody bandages?
Workplace red tape is not a burden on business but does offer essential, life-saving protection for workers, a new report has concluded. ‘Citizen Sane’, an online report from the trade union safety journal Hazards, calls for a radical reappraisal of the Health and Safety Executive’s role, with enforcement and worker involvement to become the safety watchdog’s central priorities.
Citizen Sane online report, Hazards, June 2013. Workplace safety criminals should be tied up with Red Tape poster • ‘Like’ the We love red tape facebook page
Hazards news, 22 June 2013

Britain: Safety cuts increase the risk of a new Piper Alpha
Unions have warned the government is risking a repeat of the Piper Alpha disaster by slashing safety budgets and regulation. The alert, which also warned about the need for the industry to invest in safety, came in Aberdeen at a conference organised by the industry lobby group Oil and Gas UK to mark 25 years since the oil platform explosion killed 167 people.
Morning Star • Scotsman. BBC News Online • Risks 610
Hazards news, 22 June 2013

Britain: 'Major' offshore gas and oil leaks up
The number of major gas and oil leaks from the UK's offshore installations rose last year from three to nine, the highest figure in 14 years. HSE chair Judith Hackitt commented: “The rise in the number of major releases show that there is a need for constant vigilance and attention as assets continue to age.”
BBC News Online • HSE news release • Oil and Gas UK • Risks 610
Hazards news, 22 June 2013

Britain: Sellafield fined after radioactive waste blunder
Sellafield Ltd has been fined £700,000 and ordered to pay £72,635.34 costs after “a failure of leadership” resulted in the firm sending bags of radioactive waste to a landfill site. The Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive’s Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) carried out an investigation after the bags, which should have been sent to a specialist facility that treats and stores low-level radioactive waste, were instead sent to Lillyhall landfill site in Workington, Cumbria.
Environmental Agency • The Guardian • Risks 610
Hazards news, 22 June 2013

Britain: Narrow escape in another Sellafield blunder
Last week Sellafield Ltd confirmed it was undertaking an investigation into a narrowly averted catastrophe at the nuclear reprocessing plant. The error, where formaldehyde instead of hydroxylamine was mistakenly placed in a holding tank, was spotted before the reprocessing of radioactive material began, averting a disaster which anti-nuclear campaigners said could have wrecked the reprocessing system.
Morning Star • Risks 610
Hazards news, 22 June 2013

Britain: UNISON reps raise safety concerns
Health and safety is facing a deadly attack, delegates to UNISON’s local government conference have warned. Manchester Delegate, Joan McNulty, quoting Hazards magazine, said: “The problem is not too much red tape, but too many bloody bandages.” UNISON and UNISON Scotland news releases • Risks 610
Hazards news, 22 June 2013

Britain: Sinking exposes falling safety standards at sea
The death of six seafarers when a cargo ship sank in the Irish Sea has exposed declining safety standards at sea, seafarers’ unions have warned. The loss of the Swanland off north Wales came after “money-saving” measures by the owner, an investigation has found.
Nautilus news release • RMT news release • MAIB report • BBC News Online • Risks 610
Hazards news, 22 June 2013

Britain: Directors should face jail for safety ‘recklessness’ too
A government-ordered commission has concluded ‘reckless’ bankers should be jailed for their misconduct, prompting the TUC to call for equally stern treatment for safety criminals. Writing in the TUC’s safety facebook page, head of safety Hugh Robertson noted: “It looks like the government is going to urgently accept the recommendations of the Banking Commission, but of course this is about money,” adding: “Our call for a duty health and safety is only about lives.”
TUC health and safety facebook page • Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards report, 19 June 2013 • BBC News Online • Risks 610
Hazards news, 22 June 2013

Global: Gap joins Walmart in race to the bottom
The decision by US clothing retailer Gap to join Walmart in a non-binding and unenforceable “Bangladesh safety programme” has been condemned by unions worldwide. The two retail giants have ignored calls to join the global Bangladesh Fire and Safety Building Accord that has already been welcomed by the ILO and OECD and signed by more than 40 US, Canadian and European brands.
ITUC news release • Joint statement by AFL-CIO and ChangetoWin • OECD news release • ILO news release • IndustriALL news release • UNI news release • Risks 609
Hazards news, 15 June 2013

Global: Key scientists in asbestos ‘crime-fraud’ probe
A series of academic papers used by the asbestos industry in a bid to frustrate compensation claims from workers suffering deadly diseases were potentially part of a “crime-fraud”, the New York Appeal Court has found. The articles, financed by Georgia-Pacific, were intended to cast doubt on the capability of chrysotile asbestos to cause cancer.
Union of Concerned Scientists blog • RightOnCanada • Inhalation Toxicology apology
Hazards news, 15 June 2013

Britain: Tragedies expose ‘low risk’ dangers
A series of tragedies have cast further doubt on the government’s decision to exempt supposedly ‘low risk’ workplaces including shops from routine safety inspections. Critics of the government strategy to exempt retail and other “low risk” workplaces from preventive inspections also point out the risk rating ignores the sometimes sky high occupational disease risks in these jobs.
Thames Valley Police news release • The Guardian • The Sun • BBC News Online on the Mark Rutter conviction, Javaid Ali prosecution and Hugo Boss tragedy • Workers' Compensation Claims for Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Wholesale and Retail Trade Industry Workers — Ohio, 2005–2009, CDC, June 2013 • Risks 609
Hazards news, 15 June 2013

Britain: New blueprint for a waste industry safety drive
A new plan to drive down the number of people killed and seriously injured in the notoriously deadly waste and recycling industry has been published. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says Waste Industry Safety and Health (WISH) Forum plan outlines 24 immediate action points under five strategic themes – providing strong leadership, involving the workforce, building competence, creating healthier and safer workplaces, and providing support for small and medium sized employers.
HSE news release • WISH webpages and new blueprint • Risks 609
Hazards news, 15 June 2013

Britain: Firm fined for skip lorry death
Adis Scaffolding Limited, which is now in liquidation, a company that crushes rubble from construction and demolition waste has been fined £300,000 after an employee was killed by an overturning skip lorry in Derbyshire. David Vickers, 37, of Walton, near Chesterfield, died on 22 July 2008 when the skip lorry he was driving flipped and landed on top of him.
HSE news release and alert • BBC News Online • Risks 609
Hazards news, 15 June 2013

Britain: Recycling worker crushed between two trucks
A Bolton company has been convicted of a criminal safety offence after a driver suffered serious injuries when he was crushed between two trucks at a recycling plant. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted DS Smith Paper Ltd after the incident at the Severnside site.
HSE news release and transport webpages • Risks 609
Hazards news, 15 June 2013

Britain: Job cuts threaten safe air traffic control
The lives of airline workers and the flying public would be put at risk if cuts to air traffic control go ahead, the union PCS has warned. Staff working for UK air traffic control provider, NATS, demonstrated outside the Department for Transport on 12 June against plans to cut jobs and costs in the service.
Prospect news release • PCS news release • Risks 609
Hazards news, 15 June 2013

Britain: Tribunal fees will leave workers unprotected
The TUC has warned that a system of tribunal fees due to come into effect in July will “embolden” rogue employers while leaving workers more vulnerable to safety and other abuses. Anyone who believes they ‘suffer a detriment, dismissal or redundancy for health and safety reasons’ may be required to pay an initial fee of £250 and a further £950 if the case goes to a tribunal, the maximum ‘level 2’ charges under the new system.
TUC news release and Campaign Plan • Hazards magazine’s ‘Pay-per-go’ guide to the tribunal fees • Risks 609
Hazards news, 15 June 2013

Britain: Campaigners slam the ‘war’ on safety
A major lobby of parliament has heard angry calls from union leaders and campaigners for the government to reverse an unprecedented attack on workplace safety protections. A large group of Labour MPs, including several shadow ministers, joined hundreds of protesters at an 11 June lobby of parliament called by the unions Unite and UCATT.
FACK News release • Morning Star and related article • Northern Echo • Risks 609
Hazards news, 15 June 2013

Britain: Bakers turn up the heat on safety
Workers are paying a high price for the government’s unending assault on safety protections, the conference of the bakers’ union BFAWU has heard. Hazards Campaign coordinator Hilda Palmer told delegates the coalition government's “massive attack” on health and safety legislation amounted to murder,” adding: “It's not a case of too much red tape - there's too many bloody bandages.”
Morning Star • Risks 609
Hazards news, 15 June 2013

Britain: Savage rail cuts will damage safety
Network Rail cannot find savings of £2 billion over five years without dire consequences for rail safety, the union RMT has warned. The union was speaking out after the rail regulator told Network Rail, which already has a net debt of over £30bn, it must make the cut while at the same time improving punctuality and safety.
RMT news release • ORR news release • BBC News Online • The Mirror • Risks 609
Hazards news, 15 June 2013

China: Over 100 poultry workers die in factory inferno
Relatives of more than 100 workers killed in a fire at a Chinese poultry slaughterhouse are demanding answers, after survivors said some exits were locked or blocked. At least 119 people died after the fire broke out just after dawn on 3 June at Baoyuan, near Dehui in Jilin province.
AMRC statement • ABC News • BBC News Online • Al Jazeera • The Independent • Risks 608
Hazards news, 8 June 2013

Global: Probe over Samsung smartphone certification
A highly prized sustainability certificate granted to Samsung’s new Galaxy S4 smartphone is to be reviewed after protests by a global network of workers’ rights and environmental groups. The groups, coordinated by the International Campaign for Responsible Technology, charged that Samsung’s production processes have been linked to oppressive labour conditions and over 100 cases of occupational cancer, with at least 70 deaths caused by exposure to hazardous chemicals.
Statement from global health and justice groups • TCO Development statement and news release on the Samsung S4 certification. SHARPS ‘Stop Samsung’ campaign news release • International Campaign for Responsible Technology • Risks 608
Hazards news, 8 June 2013

Global: Walmart and Gap ‘run away’ from Accord
As the number of retail companies signing up to the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord continues to grow, the garment workers of Bangladesh “have been given a slap in the face by Walmart and Gap,” the global unions that brokered the deal have said. The retail giants have now produced a code of their own where they will act as judge and jury, warned IndustriALL and UNI.
IndustriALL news release • Al Jazeera • The Sum of Us call for Gap and Walmart to sign up • Risks 608
Hazards news, 8 June 2013

Italy: Billionaire Swiss asbestos killer gets longer sentence
A billionaire Swiss industrialist convicted for his part in Italy's biggest asbestos scandal has had his jail sentence lengthened to 18 years, in a ruling campaigners said would set a precedent for workplace safety lawsuits. Stephan Schmidheiny, found guilty of negligence that led to more than 2,000 asbestos-related deaths, was also ordered to pay millions of euros in damages to local authorities, victims and their families by an appeals court in Turin.
International Ban Asbestos Secretariat news report • Asbestos in the Dock report. Yahoo News • Risks 608
Hazards news, 8 June 2013

Britain: Asda fined over worker’s freezer injury
The UK offshoot of the world’s largest retailer has been ordered to pay out more than £50,000 after a worker slipped on an icy floor in a storage freezer, seriously hurting his knee. Leeds-based Asda, part of the global Walmart chain, appeared at Barnsley Magistrates Court for sentencing on 30 May, after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to a criminal safety offence.
Barnsley Council news release • Yorkshire Post • Risks 608
Hazards news, 8 June 2013

Britain: Serial criminal escapes with community service
The owner of a roofing firm who placed his employees at deadly risk, didn’t have the legally required insurance that would provide compensation if they were injured and who had previously been fined after an employee was paralysed in a fall has escaped with community service. Tony Massey, who trades as Massey Roofing and Building Contractors, was ordered to carry out 100 hours of community service in the next 12 months, and to pay £2,000 in prosecution costs.
HSE news release and falls webpage • Risks 608
Hazards news, 8 June 2013

Britain: Haulage bosses convicted over driver's death
A father and son who ran a haulage business have been found guilty of causing the death of one of their drivers who fell asleep at the wheel. Stephen Kenyon, 35, died when his lorry crashed into a line of stationary traffic on the M1 on 12 February 2010. Adrian John McMurray, 54, and Adrian Paul McMurray, 36, who together ran Daventry-based AJ Haulage, had denied manslaughter.
Northampton Chronicle • BBC News Online • Risks 608
Hazards news, 8 June 2013

Britain: New calls for MOT law change
Five years after a mother and her two daughters died on Aberdeenshire's roads, motoring groups and unions have called for all modern vehicles to have MOTs. Thousands of vehicles, ranging from breakdown and construction vehicles to cranes, are not required under current rules to obtain an MOT.
BBC News Online • Risks 608
Hazards news, 8 June 2013

Europe: Slow motion on new safety strategy
Belated moves to introduce a Europe Union workplace health and safety strategy for 2013 and beyond have been initiated by the European Commission, after concerted pressure by unions. But unions remain concerned that the bureaucratic consultative process will bring further delays and that the Commission is adopting an increasingly regulation averse stance that could send Europe in a more dangerous direction.
Health and safety at work: Commission opens public consultation on future EU policy framework, European Commission, 31 May 2013 • ETUI news report • Risks 608
Hazards news, 8 June 2013

Britain: Unite questions HSE silence on Chevron deaths
The union Unite has expressed concern at a failure by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to provide information on the causes of a fatal refinery blast two years ago. The explosion and fire at the Chevron Pembroke Refinery on 2 June 2011 killed four workers and seriously injured another.
Unite news release • Risks 608
Hazards news, 8 June 2013

Britain: Union calls for action after betting shop murder
The union representing betting shop workers is calling for urgent action after the brutal murder of a Ladbrokes employee. Community wrote to employment minister Mark Hoban after 55-year-old betting shop manager Andrew Iacovou was bludgeoned to death with a hammer on 25 May in his workplace in Morden, south London.
Community news release • Ladbrokes statement • Racing Post • Daily Mail • Risks 608
Hazards news, 8 June 2013

Britain: New enforcement code to hit inspections
A new code introduced by the Government this week will further reduce the level of health inspection by Local Authorities. The number of pro-active inspections by local councils has already fallen by 86 per cent in the past three years – and now Local authorities are being banned from health and safety inspections on anything but the highest risk premises under a new binding code.
National code • Risks 607
Hazards news, 1 June 2013

Britain: Counterfeit safety cards threaten safety
Two men have been cautioned for safety test fraud relating to the Construction Skills Certification Scheme. This scheme certifies that workers in the industry have got basic skills and knowledge on health and safety and is supported by construction unions.
Construction Enquirer • Risks 607
Hazards news, 1 June 2013

Britain: Scaffolder put lives at risk
A scaffolder has been fined for putting himself, his workers and passing members of the public at risk. An inspector from the HSE saw workers on scaffolding with no edge protection at a property in Cranberry Road, Camborne, in March 2012. Anthony Dale of Roskear Parc, Tuckingmill, Camborne, pleaded guilty at Truro Magistrates' Court to breaching Section 2(2) and Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined a total of £8,000 and ordered to pay £4,114 in costs.
HSE news release • Risks 607
Hazards news, 1 June 2013

Britain: Tissue manufacturer in court over worker's fall
A worker was injured when metal grating gave way under his feet at a tissue factory in Lancaster, a court has heard. NTG (Papermill) Ltd prosecuted by the HSE following the incident at its factory on the Lansil Industrial Estate in 2009.
Print Week • Risks 607
Hazards news, 1 June 2013

Britain: Weapons plant fined over safety
The Atomic Weapons Establishment PLC (AWE PLC) has been fined £200,000 with a further £80,000 in costs after a worker was injured when a fire broke out in an explosives processing building. A worker was breaking dry nitrocellulose (NC) into a plastic bucket which contained methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) - both volatile agents - as part of the process of producing a lacquer.
HSE news release • Risks 607
Hazards news, 1 June 2013

Global: Improve treatment of workers or lose world cup
The British TUC is calling on UEFA to address the appalling treatment of workers and players in Qatar and back calls for FIFA to re-run the vote for the 2022 tournament should the Qatari government fail to take any action. Low rates of pay, excessive working hours, a ban on joining unions, poor safety standards and numerous abuses under the country's strict visa sponsorship system have led to accusations that Qatar is acting like a 21st century slave state.
TUC news release. ITUC news release • Risks 607
Hazards news, 1 June 2013

Argentina: Retail giant Zara is linked to slave labour
The Spanish fashion brand Zara is outsourcing its production in Argentina to clandestine sweatshops employing immigrants under slave-like conditions, campaigners have revealed. The campaign group La Alameda and CGT, the country’s largest trade union confederation, which together have exposed the abuses, say the working hours are inhuman.
Equal Times •  Risks 606
Hazards news,  25 May 2013

Global: What made the retail giants cave
A campaign by global unions and labour rights groups that succeeded in getting dozens of the world’s biggest retail and textile companies to sign up to a union-crafted safety accord, has prompted questions about what lessons can be learned for future campaigns.
TUC Touchstone blog • Oxfam blog • TUC Aid appeal for funds •  Risks 606
Hazards news,  25 May 2013

Global: The pressure is mounting on Gap
More than a million people have already signed an online petition calling on Gap to stop stonewalling and back the global Bangladesh Fire and Safety Accord. UNI, the global union for the retail sector, says the company “has been inundated with calls from thousands of angry customers who say they expect better from Gap”.
UNI news release • IndustriALL news release • New York Times •  Risks 606
Hazards news,  25 May 2013

USA: Investors tell retailers to get in line
A coalition of faith organisations, investors and labour rights groups is urging major US retailers, including Walmart, Gap and Sears, to sign on to the new binding workplace and fire safety plan to prevent tragedies such as the 24 April building collapse in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,100 garment workers.
AFL-CIO Now blog • Letter from the investors and the letter from the ICCR • Los Angeles Times •  Risks 606
Hazards news,  25 May 2013

Britain: Recycling giant fined for worker death failings
A temporary worker at one of the world’s largest metal recycling firms was killed because of a failure to properly segregate people and moving vehicles, a court has heard. European Metal Recycling Limited, which operates across Europe, Asia and the Americas, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after Linas Mataitis, 25, from Mitcham, was struck by the bucket of a wheeled loading shovel.
HSE news release and work transport webpages •  Local London •  Risks 606
Hazards news,  25 May 2013

Britain: BAE Systems sentenced for the death of worker
Global defence company BAE Systems has received a six figure fine after a worker died when he was crushed by the 145-tonne weight of a metal press at its East Yorkshire plant. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) described the death of maintenance engineer Gary Whiting, 51, as an “entirely preventable tragedy” caused by the serious safety failings of BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd at its plant in Brough.
HSE news release and manufacturing webpages •  Risks 606
Hazards news,  25 May 2013

Britain: Haulier jailed for crush death at Ipswich docks
A haulier whose lorry loader tipped over and crushed a man to death at Ipswich Docks has been sentenced to 12 months in prison and fined £50,000. Paul Napier, 48, was found guilty of the manslaughter of Neville Wightman following a trial at Ipswich Crown Court.
East Anglian Daily Times • BBC News Online •  Risks 606
Hazards news,  25 May 2013

Britain: Man jailed after worker dies in a fall
A County Durham man has been jailed and North Eastern Maritime Offshore Cluster Ltd (NEMOC) and one of its directors fined after a demolition worker fell to his death from a cherry picker that was knocked over by a falling roof beam. Ken Joyce was working for Allan Turnbull, trading as A&H Site Line Boring and Machining, when the incident happened on 2 December 2008.
HSE news release • CPS news release • BBC News Online •  Risks 606
Hazards news,  25 May 2013

Britain: Danger warning on fire safety report
A government-commissioned review of the future of the fire service is really a Trojan horse for further damaging cuts, unions have warned. The TUC said Sir Ken Knight's review was produced “simply to provide cover” for the next wave of government’s attacks.
TUC news release • FBU news release •  Risks 606
Hazards news,  25 May 2013

Britain: Tell retailers to sign the safety plan
The TUC is urging major UK high street brands to stop dragging their feet and sign up to a safety deal fashioned after a devastating garment factory collapse in Bangladesh killed over 1,100 workers. According to the TUC: “Signing the Accord commits companies to fund an independent safety inspector body that will involve workers in the process, through their unions, and to make long term deals with suppliers, offering more secure employment and training for workers.”
TUC action call •  TUC ‘What price cheap clothing?’ briefing • Full text of the Accord.
Write to Debenhams and GAP now •  Risks 606
Hazards news,  25 May 2013

Britain: Whiplashing hose breaks tunneller’s leg
An international civil engineering firm has been prosecuted after a construction worker had his left leg broken by the whiplash of an industrial hose. Adrian Murray, 48, was working for Joseph Gallagher Ltd on a tunnelling project beneath the Dorchester Hotel in central London.
HSE news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 605
Hazards news, 18 May 2013

Britain: Digger driver saves buried worker
A quick-thinking construction worker saved a colleague who was seriously injured when he was buried up to his waist when a basement wall collapsed.  The BBS Construction Ltd employee, who does not wish to be named, smashed his right hip in the incident at Benenden School for Girls in Cranbrook on 18 January 2011.
HSE news release and excavations guide • Construction Enquirer • Risks 605
Hazards magazine • 18 May 2013

Asia: Campaigners denounce the deadly decades
A sequence of deadly industrial incidents in Asia show companies and their appointed ethical standards auditors are failing to tackle corporate safety crimes across the continent, the Asian Network for the Rights of Occupational and Environmental Victims (ANROEV) has said. “Corporate social responsibility driven initiatives and self-regulatory mechanisms have failed time and time again to protect workers,” said Sanjiv Pandita, executive director of the Asia Monitor Resource Centre (AMRC).
ANROEV news release • The Pump Handle • Risks 605
Hazards news, 18 May 2013

Global: Top retailers sign up to Bangladesh safety deal
Over 30 of the world’s top retailers have signed up to groundbreaking safety deal brokered by global trade unions. Signatories to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, which covers more than 1,000 Bangladeshi garment factories, met a 15 May deadline to approve the standard proposed by the global unions IndustriALL and UNI, who had worked in alliance with labour rights groups the Clean Clothes Campaign and Worker Rights Consortium.
IndustriALL news release • ILO statement. Solidarity Center news release • TUC Touchstone blog • In These Times • New York Times • The Guardian • The Independent • Risks 605
Hazards news, 18 May 2013

Global: Call to finally ‘stop the race to the bottom’
Commerce unions from all continents have thrashed out plans for a new world of retail in the wake of the Bangladesh factory safety accord. During an emergency meeting of global commerce unions at UNI headquarters, UNI general secretary, Philip Jennings said, “The race to the bottom stops here.”
UNI news release • BBC News Online • The Guardian • Global Post • Risks 605
Hazards news, 18 May 2013

Europe: Black Sea action to target ‘sea of shame’
Seafarers from across Europe have exposing substandard and unsafe working conditions in what they have labelled the ‘Black Sea of shame’. Global transport unions’ federation ITF and maritime unions in Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine are involved in the campaign.
ITF news release, campaign and Black Sea of Shame report • Risks 605
Hazards news, 18 May 2013

Global: Toxic exports convention ‘in crisis’
Outraged civil society groups attending the Rotterdam Convention conference in Geneva last week have said the convention was hijacked by industry interests. For the fourth time, a handful of countries allied to the asbestos industry have refused to allow chrysotile asbestos to be added to the Convention’s list of hazardous substances that require exporters to obtain ‘prior informed consent’ from the importer; listing of the pesticide paraquat was also blocked.
RightOnCanada news release • IBAS news report • Joint news release by the Berne Declaration, PAN, IPEN and IUF  • Risks 605
Hazards news, 18 May 2013

Britain: Director fined after worker's deadly fall
The director of a concrete structures firm has been fined £20,000 after a worker died after a fall at a Swansea building site. Carillion Construction Ltd, Febrey Ltd and director Michael Febrey, were prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident at the Meridian Quay apartment development on 22 January 2008.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 605
Hazards news, 18 May 2013

Britain: BP wants Cameron’s help with disaster costs
BP wants prime minister David Cameron to intervene over the escalating compensation costs arising from the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster in 2010. BP feels its financial recovery is in jeopardy and it could become a target for a takeover.
BBC News Online • More on BP’s safety record • Risks 605Hazards news, 18 May 2013

Britain: HSE’s independence is undermined by government
A decision by the government to impose an “employee interests” representative on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) board who did not have the support of trade unions has led to serious concerns about the independence of the official safety watchdog.
TUC Stronger Unions blog • FBU news release • The Guardian
Hazards news, 18 May 2013

Britain: Cameron’s ‘stupid and dangerous’ move on safety
The TUC’s top safety expert has branded the government’s latest move to relax workplace safety controls as ‘stupid and dangerous’. Hugh Robertson said the Deregulation Bill announced in the 8 May Queen’s speech will pave the way for self-employed workers ‘who pose no risks to others’ to be removed from the scope of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
TUC news release • TUC Stronger Unions blog • Government webpage on the Queen’s Speech 2013 and presentation to parliament • STUC news release • Morning Star • BBC News Online • Risks 604
Hazards news, 11 May 2013

Britain: A gentle nudge won’t worry safety criminals
The government’s determination to “nudge rather than regulate” will hand safety criminals greater latitude to maim and kill, the TUC has warned. It says the approach promoted by the government’s soon to be part-privatised Cabinet Office Behavioural Insights Team – the ‘Nudge Unit’ – is already having an impact on workplace health and safety.
TUC Stronger Unions blog • Cabinet Office Behavioural Insights Team • House of Lords Science and Technology Committee ‘Behaviour change’ report, July 2011 • Risks 604
Hazards news, 11 May 2013

Britain: Butchery firm slapped with safety gloves fine
A large butchery firm in south London has been fined after an employee sliced his forearm because his safety gloves offered insufficient protection. Rare Butchers of Distinction Ltd also failed to report the “serious incident” at its premises on the Chiltonian Industrial Estate on 21 July 2011 within the legally required ten-day limit – taking 29 days to notify the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
HSE news release and PPE guidance • Risks 604
Hazards news, 11 May 2013

Britain: Head of government agency hauled before HSE
The head of a government agency whose workers were put at serious risk from bovine TB has been forced to appear at a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) office to receive an official reprimand. Chris Hadkiss, chief executive of the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) - an executive agency of DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) - was handed a Crown censure at HSE’s Basingstoke office after an investigation into the handling of samples containing Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) - the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis (TB).
HSE news release • Risks 604
Hazards news, 11 May 2013

Britain: Man may face amputation after injury a year ago
A Bradford man may need to have his lower leg amputated as a result of a crush injury caused by the criminal safety failures of his employer more than a year ago. The city’s magistrates were told that 51-year-old David Wain suffered serious injuries on 6 February 2012 when a 1.5 tonne pallet of tin plates fell onto his right lower leg and foot when he was employed by Emballator UK Ltd at their factory in Tyersal, Bradford.
HSE news release and manufacturing webpages • Risks 604Hazards news, 11 May 2013

Australia: ‘No more excuses’ on quad bike safety
An official call for quad bike manufacturers to fit efficient crush protection devices (CPDs) should lead to strong regulatory action to reduce deaths and injuries, Australia’s national union federation ACTU has said. ACTU assistant secretary Michael Borowick, speaking after the plea from Safe Work Australia chief Rex Hoy, said that there had been enough talk on quad bike safety and it was time for the Australian consumer safety watchdog ACCC and workplace safety bodies throughout  the country to act.
ACTU news release • Safe Work Australia news release • ACCC 28 March 2013 news release • Risks 604
Hazards news, 11 May 2013

Global: Tragedies expose role of global retailers
The spate of garment factory disasters in Bangladesh has exposed the poor working conditions in the country, but reports say the problem has its origin in a supply chain structure which puts more emphasis on cost than on the working conditions in the Asian nations producing the goods. The 24 April Rana Plaza building collapse had by 9 May claimed over 1,000 lives, with the death toll climbing and rescue work accompanied by the overpowering stench of decaying corpses.
Wall Street Journal. • ILO tripartite mission statement • HRW Asia news release • IndustriALL news release • TUC Stronger Unions blog • BBC News Online • Toronto Star • Risks 604
Hazards news, 11 May 2013

New Zealand: ‘Critical weaknesses’ of a deadly safety system
Unions in New Zealand have called on the government to implement in full the recommendations of an official taskforce that found “critical weaknesses” in the nation’s workplace safety system. The 30 April report of the Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety calls for urgent, broad-based change.
Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety – news release, website, executive report and main report • NZCTU news release • Risks 604
Hazards news, 11 May 2013

Uruguay: Mass protest at poor safety standards
An incredible 40,000 scaffolding workers took to the streets of Montevideo last month to protest at a government failure to introduce stalled safety laws. The 17 April march called by the National Union of Building Workers (SUNCA) was accompanied by a 24-hour nationwide strike.
BWI news report • Risks 603
Hazards news, 4 May 2013

Australia: Thousands stand up for site safety
An army of 10,000 construction workers jammed the streets of Melbourne on 30 April, calling for safety on sites operated by construction firm Grocon. The union CFMEU said the turnout was particularly impressive as newspapers, politicians and employer groups had all warned workers off attending the march.
CFMEU news release and 15 minute film on the safety dispute • BWI news release • The Age and related pre-rally article • Risks 603
Hazards news, 4 May 2013

Bangladesh: Pressure leads to garment safety commitments
International clothing brands, bowing to pressure from unions and campaign groups, have agreed to meet a 15 May deadline to finalise an agreement on fire and building safety in the garment industry in Bangladesh. Under the agreement, funds will be made available for inspections, training and upgrading dangerous facilities.
IndustriALL news release • Clean Clothes Campaign news release • Primark statement • Loblaw statement • Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Agreement • BBC News Online • Risks 603
Hazards news, 4 May 2013

Britain: Worker dies in tarmac cutter
Direct Plant Services Ltd, trading as South and West Highways Trenching, has been fined after a worker was killed while operating a tarmac cutter which had a deliberately disabled safety switch. Stuart Guard, 28, died after becoming entangled in the cutting wheel of a machine designed to remove the top layers of tarmac on roads.
HSE news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 603
Hazards news, 4 May 2013

Britain: Fireball engulfs chemical worker
A worker who sustained severe burns when he was engulfed by a fireball at a chemical factory had to be kept in an induced coma for seven weeks. The 45-year-old from Kirkby, who has asked not to be named, was injured in the chemical explosion at SAFC Hitech Ltd’s plant when a bottle of trimethylindium, or TMI, used during the production of LEDs and in the semiconductor industry, exploded.
HSE news release and chemicals webpage • Risks 603
Hazards news, 4 May 2013

Britain: Teen hospitalised by textile firm
A textile company has been prosecuted for criminal safety offences after a 1.5 tonne pallet toppled on to a teenage worker, trapping him by the legs. Halifax Magistrates heard that the 18-year-old warehouse worker suffered a broken leg in the incident at THS Industrial Textiles Ltd in Elland on 16 March 2011.
HSE news release and safe lifting guidance • Risks 603
Hazards news, 4 May 2013

Britain: Government questions HSE’s existence
Construction union UCATT has described the government’s announcement of a major review that questions the need for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as “crass and cold hearted”. Announcing the triennial review, the government said it “will assess whether there is a continuing need for HSE’s functions, as well as whether it is complying with the principles of good governance.
DWP announcement and written ministerial statement • HSE news release • UCATT news release • Risks 603
Hazards news, 4 May 2013

Britain: HSE union condemns new government attack
The government’s triennial review of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) could mark a dangerous step towards further privatisation of the safety watchdog’s functions, the union PCS has warned.  The union said the enforcer has already cut its staffing in half since 2004, adding it will have had to reduce its budget by £80m-£85m a year by 2014, which will directly lead to an increase in deaths, injuries and illnesses.
PCS news release • Risks 603
Hazards news, 4 May 2013

Britain: BP’s safety record in the spotlight again
BP’s profits dipped in the first quarter as the UK-based oil multinational revealed it had paid out more than half of the cash it had set aside to cover the cost of damages caused by the 2010 rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. BP's safety record took another knock on 30 April – the same day it released its quarterly results - when Norway's Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) censured the company for the second time in two years, after a potentially deadly September 2012 incident at BP’s Ula oilfield in the North Sea.
BP news release and BP quarterly results and webcast • PSA Norway news release • The Guardian and related story. • Risks 603
Hazards news, 4 May 2013

Britain: Treat me like an animal
Animal welfare charity RSPCA takes more prosecutions and secures 200 times more jail terms than all the official workplace safety watchdogs combined, the TUC has revealed. RSPCA’s ‘Prosecutions annual report 2012’, published on 30 April, reveals the organisation secured 4,168 convictions against 1,552 people last year for animal cruelty, with 86 people jailed as result.
TUC Stronger Unions blog • RSPCA news release and RSPCA prosecutions annual report 2012, April 2013 • Risks 603
Hazards news, 4 May 2013

Britain: Steel beam crushes welder
Steel manufacturer Condor Allslade has been prosecuted after a welder was crushed by a falling 1.4 tonne steel beam at its Portsmouth plant. The 64-year-old man, who does not wish to be named, suffered injuries including a fractured skull, two crushed discs in his back, a broken knee and ankle bones, as well as a blood clot on his lung.
HSE news release and manufacturing webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 602
Hazards magazine, 27 April 2013

Britain: Rail workers crushed by ballast machine
Babcock Rail and Swietelsky Construction have been fined for criminal safety offences after two workers were seriously injured when a ballast regulator machine fell on top of them when a car jack being used to prop it up collapsed.
ORR news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 602
Hazards magazine, 27 April 2013

Britain: Poor site facilities lead to conditional discharge
A builder has been given a two year conditional discharge after neglecting the welfare of workers at a construction site in West Cornwall. David Lawrance, as a partner for Swiftfix Reinforcement Specialists, failed to provide adequate washing facilities and rest areas at a site in Carbis Bay between May and July 2012 where a new home was being built.
HSE news release and construction welfare webpages • Risks 602
Hazards magazine, 27 April 2013

Britain: Worker killed by runaway lorry
A lorry driver died when he was run over by his own lorry, a court has heard. Father-of-three Gary Walters, 51, was working for Gloucester-based contract haulier Larkins Logistics Ltd when the fatal incident occurred on 11 October 2010.
HSE news release • Risks 602
Hazards magazine, 27 April 2013

Britain: Waste industry dangers highlighted in court
A Lincoln man suffered life-changing injuries because of a series of criminal safety failings at the City Scrap Ltd waste recycling plant where he worked in Scunthorpe, a court has heard. The 25-year-old worker had his arm severed when he tried to clear a blockage on a conveyor on a metal sorting line.
HSE news release and waste industry webpages • Risks 602
Hazards magazine, 27 April 2013

Bangladesh: Hundreds die in factory building collapse
The worst ever industrial accident in Bangladesh has killed several hundred garment workers, with fears of a final death toll reaching 1,000 as hundreds remain injured and trapped in the debris. The collapse of the eight storey Rana Plaza building in Savar, 30 kilometres outside Dhaka, on the morning of 24 April came the day after workers expressed concerns about cracks in the building.
Industriall news release • TUC news release. BBC News Online • Risks 602
Hazards magazine, 27 April 2013

Global: Death trap plants awarded ‘safe’ certificates
Factories in which hundreds of workers have died had been labelled ‘safe’ by a fatally flawed auditing system that amounts to ‘privatised regulation’, a report from the US union federation AFL-CIO has found. The report points to two devastating garment factory fires last year in Bangladesh and Pakistan; both companies had been certified as meeting safety standards by official-sounding groups financed by the multinational corporations profiting from the low-wage labour churning out the pants, sweaters, shirts and more destined for boutique stores and department store racks.
Responsibility Outsourced: Social Audits, Workplace Certification and 20 Years of Failure to Protect Worker Rights, AFL-CIO, April 2013. AFL-CIO Now blog • ITUC news report • TUC Stronger Unions blog • Equal Times. • Risks 602
Hazards magazine, 27 April 2013

Canada: Inspection blitz targets vulnerable workers
An official safety enforcer in Canada has taken a fresh look at how you define ‘high risk’ workplaces, with an inspection blitz set to prioritise young and temporary workers and recent immigrants. Inspectors from the Ministry of Labour in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, will be examining compliance with employment and as well as more routine safety standards to ensure employees are getting their wages and holiday pay, and aren't being forced to work excessive hours.
Ontario Ministry of Labour news release • Windsor Star • Risks 602
Hazards magazine, 27 April 2013

USA: No inspections for 28 years at deadly fertiliser plant
A Texas fertiliser plant where a fire and explosion last week destroyed dozens of buildings, claimed at least 14 lives -including 11 firefighters and emergency medical staff – and injured more than 200, was last inspected by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 1985. The West Fertiliser plant disaster is a “stunning indictment” of the safety watchdog’s under-funding, critics have charged.
National COSH news release • Washington Post • In These Times • AFL-CIO Now blog • Huffington Post • Risks 602
Hazards magazine, 27 April 2013

Britain: Unite action call in wake of tug tragedy
The union Unite has welcomed news that two firms are to face criminal charges over the sinking of a tugboat in the River Clyde, which led to the deaths of three crew members. The Flying Phantom capsized in thick fog on 19 December 2007, killing skipper Stephen Humphreys, 33; Eric Blackley, 57; and Robert Cameron, 65.
Unite news release • BBC News Online • Risks 602
Hazards magazine, 27 April 2013

Britain: RMT concern over new rail runaway injury
Another incident involving a runaway rail maintenance vehicle has raised fresh concerns about safety and subcontracting on the rail network, the union RMT has said. A workers was injured at the site run by Amco Rail, with RMT saying other agencies and contractors were thought to be involved.
RMT news release • Rail Technology magazine • Risks 602
Hazards magazine, 27 April 2013

Global: Shame of US textiles fire death brands
Major European retailers C&A, KiK and El Corte Inglés have agreed to contribute to a compensation plan for the victims of the Tazreen Fashions fire in Bangladesh – but US corporations Walmart, Sears/Kmart and Disney have snubbed the hundreds of workers killed or injured in the November 2012 disaster.
Industriall news release • Clean Clothes Campaign news release • Bloomberg News • Risks 601
Hazards news, 20 April 2013

USA: Construction boss jailed in safety bonus scam
A former safety manager with a construction firm working on US government nuclear sites has been jailed on eight counts of major fraud after hiding worker injuries to obtain $2.5 million in safety bonuses for his firm. A federal judge sentenced 55-year-old Walter Cardin, who worked for the Shaw Group, to 78 months in prison for deliberately falsifying records of workplace injuries.
US Justice Department news release • Charlotte Observer • Risks 601
Hazards news, 20 April 2013

Britain: Scheme allows safety criminals a say
A “primary authority scheme” is giving major companies the right to call for a proposed safety prosecution to be halted. The new power to refer a decision to prosecute for scrutiny by a government red tape watchdog came to light when Tesco was taken to court by Waverley Borough Council after an employee broke her foot in a Farnham store.
Waverley Borough Council news release • EHN Online • BRDO webpage on the primary authority scheme • Risks 601
Hazards news, 20 April 2013

Britain: UK Coal fined following another death
UK Coal Mining Ltd has been ordered to pay £300,000 in fines and costs after an employee was killed by falling pipes at Thoresby Colliery in Nottinghamshire. Experienced locomotive driver John Harbron, 47, was working underground with colleagues when the fatal incident occurred on 24 July 2009.
HSE news release • Nottingham Post • Risks 601
Hazards news, 20 April 2013

Britain: Deadly pit roof collapsed twice in a week
The family of a UK Coal miner who died when a pit roof collapsed has said it hopes lessons can be learned from the “obvious shortcomings” that led to his “untimely and unnecessary” death. Gerry Gibson, 49, died of asphyxiation when he was buried by the rock fall at Kellingley Colliery near Selby, North Yorkshire, in September 2011.
Yorkshire Post • Morning Star • Risks 601
Hazards news, 20 April 2013

Britain: Lift engineer's death exposes criminal failings
A national lift and elevator firm ThyssenKrupp Elevator UK Ltd’s (TKE) criminal safety failings were uncovered after the death of a lift engineer at Pentonville prison in North London. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated after Steven Loake, 53, was electrocuted while trying to fix a fault on the chapel lift at the prison on 5 October 2010.
HSE news release and electricity webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 601
Hazards news, 20 April 2013

Britain: Firm fined for scissor lift training failures
A man died after a company failed to properly train staff on how to use equipment intended to allow them to work safely at height. Knowsley-based Firesafe Installations Limited employee Shaun Scurry was trapped between the guardrail of a scissor lift and some overhead ducting a colleague was unable to release him and bring him down because he didn’t know how to use the emergency controls.
HSE news release • Liverpool Echo • Risks 601
Hazards news, 20 April 2013

Britain: Network Rail puts money before safety
Rail union TSSA has condemned Network Rail over the “entirely preventable” death of a Herefordshire housewife on a level crossing. The union was speaking out on 10 April, after Network Rail was fined £450,000 at Birmingham Crown Court for criminal safety offences related to the death of Jane Harding - and a day after it was revealed four directors of the under-performing rail giant would pocket bonuses totalling over £600,000.
TSSA news releases on Network Rail and profits and bonuses • Daily Mail • Financial Times • Sky News • Risks 601
Hazards news, 20 April 2013

Britain: A weak watchdog will strengthen rogue gangmasters
Government plans to weaken the Gangmasters Licensing Authority have been condemned by the TUC. In an online commentary, TUC’s Ben Moxham said reducing controls is likely to lead to an increase in rogue gangmasters, adding: “This will undermine the effectiveness of the GLA in tackling tax evasion and in raising compliance with basic employment and health and safety standards.”
TUC Touchstone blog and submission to the GLA inquiry • Risks 601
Hazards news, 20 April 2013

Hong Kong: Dockworkers treated like ‘caged animals’
Dockworkers in Hong Kong are being treated no better than caged animals, the global transport workers’ union federation ITF has said. According to ITF, the union and hundreds of thousands of dockers worldwide are calling on HIT and HPH to take responsibility for the welfare of their workers whether they are directly employed or subcontracted and enter into open and transparent dialogue.
ITF News • Labourstart ActNow campaign – send a protest letter to the company • Risks 600
Hazards news, 13 April 2013

India: Nothing like a nice cup of tea
Tea workers in Assam are suffering labour abuses and threats to their health and safety, a complaint to the World Bank’s International Financial Corporation (IFC) – which has a 20 per cent stake in the firm - has claimed. Global union federation IUF is supporting the complaint by tea workers at the Amalgamated Plantations Private Ltd (APPL) tea gardens in Assam, an associate company of Tata Global Beverages.
IUF news release • Risks 600
Hazards news, 13 April 2013

USA: 'Ag-Gag' bills threatens safety
A bill that would prevent workers from documenting unsafe working conditions and animal cruelty on farms or any industrial workplace using cameras is being pushed through the Indiana Legislature. The "ag-gag" bill, versions of which have been introduced or are under discussion in a dozen other states, has an amendment that would make it a “Class A misdemeanour to photograph at a farm or business without written permission from the owner.”
Change.org petition to stop the legal attacks on whistleblowers • AFL-CIO Now blog • Public News Service. NPR • Risks 600
Hazards news, 13 April 2013

USA: Saving money, ignoring regulators, poisoning workers
Cost-cutting companies, timid regulators and weak laws are proving to be a toxic package that is letting firms poison workers with impunity, an investigation by the New York Times has concluded. A related editorial said the story illustrated failings in enforcement, with the company neglecting to make the changes required by inspectors and being allowed to get away with it.
New York Times feature, related editorial and letter to the paper from the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health • Risks 600
Hazards news, 13 April 2013

Britain: Site blitz shows the need for year round inspections
Construction union UCATT is calling for a far higher number of official site safety inspections after a month-long nationwide blitz by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found there has been no improvement in standards since a similar initiative last year.
HSE news release • UCATT news release • Risks 600
Hazards news, 13 April 2013

Britain: Director fined after employee’s fatal fall
A building firm and one of its directors have been sentenced after an employee fell 15 metres to his death in an empty water storage tank in Macclesfield. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Galt Civil Engineering Ltd and Peter Stuart following an investigation into the death of Peter Halligan at Sutton Hall Farm on 14 August 2008. HSE news release and falls webpage • Construction Enquirer • Risks 600
Hazards news, 13 April 2013

Britain: Worker loses leg after falling wall starts excavator
A director of a Wimborne building firm has been fined after a self-employed worker was seriously injured when a falling wall activated an excavator. Dorchester Crown Court heard that David Mitchell, a director of Ferndown Developments Ltd, had hired James O’Connor to work at the cottage when the incident happened on 29 April 2009.
HSE news release and construction webpages • Risks 600
Hazards news, 13 April 2013

Britain: Foundry worker hit by 1.6 tonne bar
A Derbyshire foundry has been fined after an employee suffered multiple injuries when he was hit by a steel bar weighing 1.6 tonnes. The 61-year-old, who has asked not to be named, was working at Padley & Venables Ltd in Dronfield when the nine-metre long bar, and the steel barrow it was travelling on, fell as it was being pushed from one part of the site to another by a tow truck.
HSE news release • Risks 600
Hazards news, 13 April 2013

Britain: Dropping the hard hats law could kill
The decision to scrap a law requiring hard hats on site is a dangerous move and an “abdication” by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) of its responsibilities, construction union UCATT has charged. The Construction (Head Protection) Regulations 1989 were axed on 6 April.
UCATT news release • Construction Enquirer • Morning Star • HSE list of revealed, revoked and amended health and safety regulations • HSE construction PPE webpages
Hazards news, 13 April 2013

Britain: Danger site exposes construction law loophole
Construction union UCATT is calling for an urgent revision of safety laws after an Aberdeen construction site which has been dangerous for years exposed a deadly legal loophole. UCATT says that because HSE places prohibition notices on a company and not on a site, when the site changes hands the existing prohibition notices are wiped off, even if the problems have not been rectified.
UCATT news release • Risks 600
Hazards news, 13 April 2013

Britain: Does the government want child labour on farms?
The abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) could lead to the re-emergence of child labour on British farms, an international union representing agricultural workers has warned. The warning from IUF came ahead of a 16 April Commons vote on the future of the AWB, which has protected the incomes of 150,000 agricultural workers since the second world war.
Unite news release • Western Daily Press • Risks 600
Hazards news, 13 April 2013

[deadly bus/victimn] Britain: Rail worker fired for resisting an assault
A rail worker employed by London Midland was fired because he resisted a physical and verbal assault by a known troublemaker. Revenue protection officer James Crabtree was working on the gateline at Watford Junction when he asked the individual to produce a valid travel ticket.
RMT news release • Risks 600
Hazards news, 13 April 2013

Europe: Deregulation threat to safety laws
Last month turned out to be a bad one for workplace health and safety in the European Union (EU). On 7 March, the European Commission announced its plans to “ease the top 10 most burdensome EU laws” for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The EU executive said it planned to do this through the Regulatory Fitness and Performance Programme (REFIT) launched in December 2012 – and safety laws are high on a list topped by the REACH controls on hazardous chemicals.
ETUI news reports on Andor’s comments and the Deregulation Commission • European Commission news release • EU Commission webpages on health and safety at work • Risks 599
Hazards news, 30 March 2013

Global: Spoof ads target clothing giant
The Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) has launched a spoof marketing drive parodying global clothing giant H&M's new 'Conscious Collection' promotional campaign. The campaign group’s 'Unconscious Collapsed' posters aim to draw attention to the oppressive working conditions in Asian garment factories.
CCC news release • The spoof on Facebook and living wage campaign •   Take action – sign the call for a Living Wage • Risks 599
Hazards news, 30 March 2013

Britain: Worrying HSE findings on site safety
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) snapshot examination of safety conditions on Britain’s construction sites suggest there has been no improvement in standards since a similar inspection blitz last year. Both concluded “nearly one in five construction sites visited” were sub-standard, with the latest figures suggesting there has been a slight increase in the proportion of negligently run sites.
HSE news releases on the 2013 and 2012 site blitzes • Risks 599
Hazards news, 30 March 2013

Britain: HSE to keep patient safety role
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is to keep the lead role on patient safety, the government has said. The official response to recommendations in the Francis report goes against the recommendation of Robert Francis QC, who led the inquiry into the patient safety scandal at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.
Patients First and Foremost: the Initial Government Response to the Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry, Department of Health, 28 March 2013. SHP Online • Francis report website • Risks 599
Hazards news, 30 March 2013

Britain: Directors fined £1.8m for transport safety abuse
Two former haulage directors have been ordered to pay more than £1.8m after illegally endangering road users. Patrick Boyle and Mark Boyle, jailed last year, now have six months to pay £1.1m and £738,000 respectively under the Proceeds of Crime Act; investigators found that between them they had benefited from their crimes by more than £10m.
Cumbria Constabulary news release • BBC News Online • Risks 599
Hazards news, 30 March 2013

Britain: Long term failings led to long term damage
GKN Aerospace has been fined for failing to heed safety regulations for at least six years, leaving a group of employees with permanent nerve damage. Portsmouth Magistrates were told that five workers based at GKN on the Isle of Wight had been left with long-term damage to their circulation and nervous system after contracting hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS).
HSE news release and vibration webpages • Risks 599
Hazards news, 30 March 2013

Britain: Deadly risks of living on site exposed
Construction workers have found sleeping overnight in a former brewery undergoing refurbishment were exposed to potentially deadly risks, a court has heard. The owner of the Burton upon Trent brewery and the site manager were prosecuted for a series of safety failings unearthed during a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation.
HSE news release • Construction Enquirer • Risks 599
Hazards news, 30 March 2013

Britain: Firms fined 10 years after rail fatality
Two rail giants have each received six figure fines for criminal safety offences a decade after the death of track worker Liam Robinson, 35. Network Rail appeared at Stafford Crown Court on 22 March and was convicted of two offences following a three week trial and Railway Maintenance Ltd, trading as Carillion Rail, pleaded guilty to two criminal breaches at an earlier hearing.
ORR news release • Risks 599
Hazards news, 30 March 2013

Britain: Emails used as a ‘punitive’ management tool
Teachers are being swamped by a deluge of work-related emails sent in holidays, evenings and weekends, adding to their workload and causing stress and distress, the union NASUWT has warned. It says a recent survey conducted by the union revealed that nearly one in five teachers had received a stream of bullying and demanding emails from senior colleagues.”
NASUWT news release • Risks 599
Hazards news, 30 March 2013

Britain: Schools inspectors are ‘hit men’ for ministers
School inspectors are becoming education ministers’ hit men, teaching union NASUWT has claimed. Ninety-five per cent of teachers who responded to an NASUWT survey into inspection said that they believe the schools inspections system operates in the interests of politicians rather than the public or pupils.
NASUWT news release • Hazards work-related suicide guide • Risks 599
Hazards news, 30 March 2013

Britain: RMT slams HSE’s offshore ‘dilution’
Offshore union RMT has condemned the announcement of a “restructuring exercise” within the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) which will see the absorption of its Offshore Safety Division” (OSD) into a new broader “Energy Division”. RMT says that since the findings of Lord Cullen's inquiry into the 1988 Piper Alpha disaster, which killed 167, there has been a distinct division of HSE devoted to the offshore oil and gas industry.
RMT news release • HSE statement • Risks 599
Hazards news, 30 March 2013

USA: WSJ attack on asbestos victims criticised
The Wall Street Journal has been criticised for portraying asbestos compensation “fraud” as the “troubling underside” of a system that has forced asbestos companies into bankruptcy. In an 11 March article, which is riddled with basic errors, uses the fraud claim as a hook to give column inches to a Republican-backed ‘Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency" bill.
Huffington Post • Wall Street Journal • Corporate Action Network • Risks 598
Hazards news, 23 March 2013

Egypt: Lose your thumb and you're fired
Ahmad Abdulghani Awad Abdulghani, 26, worked at Cadbury Egypt, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mondelez, from 2008 to December 2011. He never had a permanent job, but was part of the army of precarious workers making chewing gum at the Alexandria factory. He lost half his thumb while operating a machine which should normally be run by three persons; then he lost his job.
IUF news release and related campaign • Click here to send a message to Mondelez - tell them to rectify human rights abuses and to meet with the IUF! • Risks 598
Hazards news, 23 March 2013

Britain: Workman fined for friend's fall through roof
A self-employed maintenance worker has been fined after a casually-employed friend fell through the roof of a disused factory. The injured man, in his forties, suffered a broken elbow when he fell three metres through the asbestos cement roof at a disused rubber factory at Bullo Pill, Newnham, in the Forest of Dean on 4 September 2012.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Hazards insecure work webpages • Risks 598
Hazards news, 23 March 2013

Britain: Work experience teen scarred by toxic cocktail
Vehicle repair company Motorhouse 2000 Ltd has been fined after a 16 year-old on work experience, Bret Thomas, suffered burns when toxic paint stripper splashed into his eyes and face. The toxic cocktail was capable of causing problems ranging from asphyxiation, to brain damage and bone rot. 
HSE news release • Risks 598
Hazards news, 23 March 2013

Britain: Company fined after paper mill injury
A paper manufacturer has been fined after a worker seriously injured his left arm when it became trapped in moving machinery. Stonehaven Sheriff Court was told that the 54-year-old from Aberdeen, whose name has not been released, was employed as a coaterman at the Stoneywood Paper Mill. The mill was operated by Arjo Wiggins Fine Papers Limited when the incident happened on 15 October 2010.
HSE news release • Risks 598
Hazards news, 23 March 2013

Britain: Baroness blasts government on safety
A member of the House of Lords has warned that the UK government’s current safety policy will cost lives. Baroness Rita Donaghy, speaking to the Canberra Times ahead of a June address to a safety conference in the Australian capital, said: “To say things have deteriorated is an understatement,” adding: “So it may sound political, but a government which listens is enormously important.”
Canberra Times • Risks 598
Hazards news, 23 March 2013

Britain: Chancellor accused of sneaky attack on rights
Construction union UCATT has accused George Osborne of hiding a further attack on workers’ safety and rights in the small print of this week’s Budget.  The union says buried on page 50 of the chancellor’s 2013 Budget document was the announcement that the government will launch a “second phase of the Red Tape challenge”, while on page 93 it confirms that the second phase of the Red Tape Challenge will begin in “summer 2013”.
UCATT news release • HM Treasury: Budget 2013 • Risks 598
Hazards news, 23 March 2013

Global: Failed auditing model led to 400 deaths
The ‘blind faith’ companies showed in a failed auditing model resulted in more than 400 garment worker deaths, labour right groups have said. ‘Fatal fashion’, a new report by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) and the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO), analysed the causes of two deadly factory fires in the export-oriented garment industry in Bangladesh and Pakistan.
SOMO news release and Fatal fashion report • Risks 597
Hazards news, 16 March 2013

Britain: MPs raise concerns about port safety
Most UK’s sea ports are failing to submit reports on their safety performance, accident statistics are inadequate and too few resources are devoted to the industry, a committee of MPs has said. Ports are required to confirm that they are complying with the Port Marine Safety Code every three years but the Commons transport committee said this was requirement was overlooked by most ports.
Transport committee news release and report, Marine Pilotage: Ninth report of Session 2012-13 • Morning Star • Risks 597
Hazards news, 16 March 2013

Britain: Pie factory death fine will go unpaid
A defunct pie manufacturer fined after a worker died in an oven explosion is unlikely to pay up, despite a new operation run by the same man and employing the same staff taking over its business. Huddersfield firm Andrew Jones Pies, which is now in administration, was fined £250,000 at York Crown Court and ordered to pay £124,896 in costs.
HSE news release •   Huddersfield Examiner • Yorkshire Post • BBC News Online • Risks 597
Hazards news, 16 March 2013

Britain: Farm owner sentenced over tractor death
The co-owner of a Lakeland farm has been sentenced after an employee was found dead under the wheel of a tractor. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted Stuart Webster following the death of Thomas Phizacklea, 24, at Aurora Park Farm in Scales near Ulverston.
HSE news release and agriculture webpages • Risks 597
Hazards news, 16 March 2013

Britain: Growth yes – but not at the cost of our safety
The government is pandering to the business lobby at the expense of workplace safety, the TUC has warned. The union body was speaking out after an 8 March invitation from business minister Michael Fallon to “businesses and regulators” to help fashion a 'growth duty' for regulators – a proposed legally-binding measure that “will require regulators to take into account the impact of their activities on the economic prospects of firms they regulate.”
Stronger Unions blog • BIS news release and consultation document, Non-economic Regulators: Duty to Have Regard to Growth • Risks 597
Hazards news, 16 March 2013

‘Growth duty’ will mean less health and safety
Hazards magazine has warned that the government’s proposed ‘growth duty’ on regulators will mean businesses pay less as victims, communities and the public purse pick up the tab. “Improving the ‘economic prospects’ of firms by slackening regulatory controls doesn’t reduce costs, it shifts them,” it said.
Hazards magazine
Hazards news, 16 March 2013

Britain: Report exposes official safety inspection deceit
Official figures obtained by Hazards reveal than while unannounced Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspections overall have dropped by over a third since 2011, inspections in high risk workplaces have fallen too. The HSE figures show instead of the promised inspection increases in the highest risk firms, inspections by the Hazardous Installations Directorate (HID) fell by almost 40 per cent and those by HSE’s Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) also fell, down from 2,092 in 2010/11 to 2,075 in 2011/12. Work rules, Hazards magazine special report, 13 March 2013 • Risks 597
Hazards news, 16 March 2013

Britain: ‘Grave concern’ about further coastguard cuts
The government's refusal to rule out further cuts to coastguard stations is a “grave concern”, the union PCS has said. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “After all the justified criticism the government has received, its refusal to commit to no further coastguard cuts in the coming years is of grave concern. Ministers are already facing a staffing crisis and now risk destabilising this emergency service even further.”
PCS news release • The Coastguard, Emergency Towing Vessels and the Maritime Incident Response Group: follow up: Government Response to the Committee’s Sixth Report of 2012–13, Transport Select Committee, 11 March 2013 • Risks 597
Hazards news, 16 March 2013

Britain: Safety is not just ‘nice’, it is necessary
When the TUC’s new assistant general secretary took up his post, he didn’t imagine workplace health and safety would be top of his to-do list – but it was. According to Paul Nowak: “Given all that is going on in the world with unemployment, cuts, pensions, attacks on trade union rights and the general fall in living standards for everyone who is not a banker or company director, it may seem strange that one small decision has got me hot under the collar, that is the decision to remove an Approved Code of Practice (ACoP) to the Management Regulations.”
Stronger Unions blog • Sign the e-petition: Save the ‘code’ to protect workers, businesses and the economy • Risks 597
Hazards news, 16 March 2013

Britain: Unions must fight for safety in a ‘hostile’ climate
A ‘hostile’ political climate is jeopardising hard won safety improvements at work, the TUC has warned. Launching the new edition of its bestselling safety publication Hazards at work, TUC said the government’s disdain for workplace safety had resulted in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) being barred from making unannounced visits to most workplaces.
TUC news release and full report Hazards at work: Organising for safe and healthy workplaces • Risks 597
Hazards news, 16 March 2013

Thailand: Activist sued for criticising work abuses
A prominent British human rights activist could face a lengthy prison term and a multi-million pound fine, after co-authoring a report that said a Thai food company abused migrant labour at one of its factories. Andy Hall has been charged with broadcasting false statements under Thailand's Computer Crime Act, a charge that carries a maximum jail term of two years; the 32-year-old has also been charged with defaming and damaging the Natural Fruit Company.
Daily Telegraph • Bangkok Post • Prachtai • Risks 596
Hazards news, 9 March 2013

Britain: One city, three crushing deaths, three broken families
Three separate incidents where Sheffield factory workers were crushed to death provide a painful illustration of the heartache caused to their families.
Sheffield Star on the deaths of Michael Dwyer, David Roberts and Alan Winters • Risks 596
Hazards news, 9 March 2013

Britain: Scrap firm fined after swinging bus hits worker
Merthyr Tydfil scrap metal firm Abba Scrap Metals Ltd has been fined after an employee was badly injured when a bus swung into him as it was being lifted onto a truck. Clifford Evans, 49 was momentarily pinned against a wall before the bus swung back again, and suffered fractures to his pelvis and ribs.
HSE news release and work equipment webpages • Risks 596
Hazards news, 9 March 2013

Britain: Billionaire fined £35k for horrific worker injury
Scotland’s richest man ignored safety warnings about his farm shortly before a worker was left looking like a shark attack victim. Wanda Lustig, 34, said she was “laughed at” when she warned about conditions on billionaire Maher Mahdi Al Tajir’s farm in Perthshire.
Scottish Daily Record • The Courier • STV News • BBC News Online • Risks 596
Hazards news, 9 March 2013

Britain: Network Rail fined £100,000 for track worker injury
Network Rail has been fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £25,000 after its criminal safety shortcomings resulted in a serious injury to a track maintenance worker. Tom Wake, ORR’s deputy director railway safety, said: “In this case, Network Rail’s management and planning for maintenance of the track at Cheshunt Junction, Hertfordshire was not good enough. The company’s failures caused the entirely avoidable and life-changing injuries for its employee Terence Wray.”
ORR news release • Risks 596
Hazards news, 9 March 2013

Britain: Safety warning as coastguard staffing plummets
Lives will be lost if coastguard stations continue to lose experienced staff, the union PCS has warned. The union says the government is failing to retain staff after its “flawed decision” to close half the coastguard stations in the UK.
PCS news release • Risks 596
Hazards news, 9 March 2013

Britain: No justice after most site deaths
The construction union UCATT is calling for urgent action after its research discovered fewer than half of site deaths are followed by a prosecution. A Freedom of Information request to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed that of the 332 fatalities involving construction workers between 2004/5 and 2008/9, just 154 (46 per cent) led to a prosecution.
UCATT news release • Risks 596
Hazards news, 9 March 2013

France: Double your money with safety investment
A new French study has found the benefits of improved health and safety in the construction industry go beyond preventing deaths, injuries and ill-health. Researchers measured the financial impact of 101 preventive actions carried out in 27 firms of all sizes. These gave an overall return of 2.19 - for every £100 invested the prevention efforts yielded savings of £219. ETUI news alert
Hazards news, 9 March 2013

USA: BP and the uncivilised truth about civil fines
As the US civil trial began this week against energy giant BP for its environmental negligence in 2010’s deadly Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, a workers’ health campaign group has said it is “struck by the vast discrepancy in the size of fines that can be assessed under federal environmental laws and those that can be levied for unsafe conditions leading to the death of a worker.”
National COSH blog • BBC News Online • The Independent • Los Angeles Times • Risks 595
Hazards news, 2 March 2013

Zambia: Copper miners face safety abuses
Copper miners in Zambia are facing safety abuses, intimidation and violence, a new report has found. Human Rights Watch researchers found that the government of President Michael Sata, who promised to prioritise labour rights when he took office in September 2011, has made some improvements in the oversight of the mines, but there remains inadequate enforcement of laws designed to protect workers’ rights.
Human Rights Watch news release • Risks 595
Hazards news, 2 March 2013

Britain: Muddled safety message from the employer lobby
Manufacturing companies are seeing “significant benefits” from investing in safety, but are still finding time to moan about “safety burdens”. These conflicting messages came this week in ‘Making health and safety work for business: Removing unnecessary health and safety burdens’, a report from the manufacturers’ lobby group EEF.
EEF news release • Risks 595
Hazards news, 2 March 2013

Britain: HSE dismisses nuclear secondments concerns
EDF Energy, which has asked ministers to consider a 40-year subsidy scheme for its proposed UK plants, has seconded two staff to the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) at the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). An HSE statement accepted nuclear employees were seconded to the organisation, but said: “We have safeguards in place to ensure there is no conflict of interest; no secondee works on matters directly related to their parent organisation.”
HSE statement • The Guardian • Spinwatch • NuclearSpin • Risks 595
Hazards news, 2 March 2013

Britain: Up to a third of inspections trigger fees
Between a quarter and a third of inspections carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) since its cost-recovery scheme came into force in October 2012 found a material breach of health and safety law, resulting in a fee for intervention (FFI) on the company involved.
SHP Online • Risks 595
Hazards news, 2 March 2013

Britain: Petition to defend the management code
A petition to the government is calling on the government to retain and improve a crucial safety management code, rather than follow through with plans to ditch it. The call, on the government’s e-petitions website, is headed “Save the ‘code’ to protect workers, businesses and the economy”.
E-petition: Save the ‘code’ to protect workers, businesses and the economy • Risks 595
Hazards news, 2 March 2013

Britain: Who is safe from Balfour Beatty?
Balfour Beatty firms landed two fines in one day last week after being convicted of serious criminal safety offences. On 22 February, Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Services Ltd, was fined £225,000 plus £100,000 costs after being found guilty of breaches linked to the death of a driver during roadworks; in a second case, Balfour Beatty Rail Track Systems Ltd, was fined £8,000 plus costs of £41,438 after an employee suffered serious hand injuries in two separate incidents.
HSE news releases on the road work and rail incidents • Construction Enquirer • Risks 595
Hazards news, 2 March 2013

Britain: Roofing firm gets £21m factory fire bill
A roofing contractor has been ordered to pay more than £21m in damages after a fire tore through a factory leaving it in ruins. Bridgend-based Central Roofing (South Wales) Ltd had been working on the roof of Mueller Europe's copper tubing plant when gas heaters ignited a scaffolding deck.
Birmingham Mail • BBC News Online. Construction Enquirer • Risks 595
Hazards news, 2 March 2013

Britain: Time for change – on official inspections
Following the launch of the TUC’s ‘Time for change’ manifesto for health and safety, the union body has published a supporting online guide to official inspections by workplace safety regulators.
Time for change manifesto webpage and inspections briefing, Health and safety inspections: Why all workplaces have to be inspected regularly • Risks 595
Hazards news, 2 March 2013

Britain: FBU condemns ‘reckless’ London fire cuts
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has vowed to mobilise every firefighter at every fire station to defend London’s fire service, after fire authority politicians capitulated to London mayor Boris Johnson, and agreed to start a fire station closure public consultation.
FBU news release • Risks 595
Hazards news, 2 March 2013

Britain: Scottish safety cuts are putting the public at risk
Cuts to local council environmental health departments are putting the health of the public and workers at risk, UNISON Scotland has found. Scottish council responses to Freedom of Information requests and the results of two surveys of UNISON members confirm the union’s warnings about the impact of cuts on food safety, public health and workplace health and safety, it said.
UNISON news release and Briefing 31: Bargaining - Cuts in Food Safety and Environmental Health, UNISON Scotland, February 2013 • Risks 595
Hazards news, 2 March 2013

Britain: Paper firm fined for worker's death
A Corby paper manufacturer has been fined for criminal safety failings after a worker was crushed to death as her husband worked nearby. Desanka Todorovic, 44, was waiting to collect some flat pack boxes from the warehouse at Merley Paper Converters Ltd, on 16 March 2009 when racking carrying heavy boxes collapsed, burying her underneath.
HSE news release and logistics website. Print Week. BBC News Online • Risks 594
Hazards news, 23 February 2013

Britain: New safety initiative for deadly waste industry
A blueprint for addressing the ‘terrible toll of death, injury and ill health in the waste and recycling industry’ is to be published following what the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) describes as a ‘landmark’ summit.
HSE news release, statement of intent, waste and recycling webpages and industry strategy • Risks 594
Hazards news, 23 February 2013

Britain: Engineering firm repeatedly put workers at risk
An engineering firm has been fined for endangering workers over a long period by allowing them to use machinery on which vital safety devices had been disabled. Sunderland Magistrates’ Court heard that Washington-based Penshaw Engineering Limited knowingly kept two computer-controlled lathes in use when interlock safety devices were not working.
HSE news release • Risks 594
Hazards news, 23 February 2013

Britain: Factory worker finds his brother dead
A family has been left devastated after a factory worker found his brother lying dead on a machine. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted machine manufacturer Unisign and employer WFEL Ltd after Brian Miller suffered fatal head injuries at the WFEL plant on 12 January 2008.
HSE news release • Manchester Evening News • Risks 593 Hazards news, 16 February 2013

Britain: Lying director banned from running a firm
The director of a Nottingham building firm has been banned from running a business after lying to safety officials in a bid to cover up a worker’s fall through a dangerous roof. Russell Lloyd denied it had happened and failed to provide any information about the injured person or any workers who may have witnessed the incident.
HSE news release and guidance on safe working practices on fragile roofs • Risks 593
Hazards news, 16 February 2013

Britain: Passing inspector stops the job
A chance sighting by a passing Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector of a potentially deadly scaffold led the safety enforcer to stop the job on the spot. Trafford Magistrates’ Court heard Stretford Scaffolding Ltd had been hired to dismantle the scaffolding in front of a row of Oldham shops after it had been used by another company for a roofing project.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 593
Hazards news, 16 February 2013

Bangladesh: Union anger after ferry tragedy
Repeated union calls for better safety standards had been ignored ahead of an 8 February ferry tragedy in Bangladesh in which dozens died. Police said the final casualty toll could be as high as 200, but the true figure is never likely to be known, because the ferry was not carrying an accurate passenger list.
ITF news release • The Guardian • BBC News Online • Risks 593
Hazards news, 16 February 2013

Ireland: Tesco staff wear work rate trackers
Staff at a Tesco warehouse in Ireland have been made to wear digital arm-band devices that constantly police their work rate. The Motorola website promoting the technology tells employers the “rugged mobile computing device will allow you to achieve maximum error-proof productivity, operational efficiency and accuracy through voice compatibility for streamlined warehouse and package handling functions.”
Irish Independent • Motorola website • Risks 593
Hazards news, 16 February 2013

Russia: Eighteen die in coal mine blast
An underground explosion at a coal mine in the Komi region of northern Russia has killed 18 people. Rescuers were brought in to search for people trapped below the surface at the Vorkutinskaya mine after the 11 February blast caused a tunnel collapse.
RT News • Huffington Post • BBC News Online • Morning Star • Risks 593
Hazards news, 16 February 2013

Britain: Hospital inquiry calls for major safety reforms
A public inquiry highlighting failures in safety oversight in the health service has been welcomed by unions, who are now calling for major changes to protect patients and staff. The inquiry report by Robert Francis QC concluded HSE should not be involved in policing patient safety issues.
The Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Inquiry, news release and report. Prime Minister’s statement • Unite news release • UNISON news release • Union News • The Guardian • Risks 593
Hazards news, 16 February 2013

Global: Union warnings after lifeboat deaths
Unions have expressed serious concerns after five crew members died when a lifeboat fell from a cruise ship docked in the port of Santa Cruz de la Palma in the Canary Islands. The incident happened on the Thomson Majesty, operated by UK-based Thomson Cruises, during a routine safety drill.
Nautilus news release • ITF news release • BBC News Online • Risks 593
Hazards news, 16 February 2013

Britain: Fire service privatisation will ‘sacrifice lives’
New government plans to privatise the whole fire and rescue service will cost lives, Fire Brigades Union (FBU) general secretary Matt Wrack has warned. He was speaking out after fire minister Brandon Lewis wrote to the Regulatory Reform Committee at Westminster seeking views on new laws to “enable fire and rescue authorities in England to contract out their full range of services to a suitable provider”.
FBU news release • Risks 593
Hazards news, 16 February 2013

Britain: Damaged track exposes rail cuts dangers
Union warnings about the dangers of cutbacks in track renewals and maintenance have been given added credence after another broken rail was found on the InterCity East Coast Mainline (ECML). RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “This shocking new picture highlights the reality on Britain's railways today - staffing, inspections and track renewals have been cut in the dash to save money and there is massive pressure right from the top of government to keep services running at all costs regardless of the potential human cost.”
RMT news release • ITV News • Risks 593
Hazards news, 16 February 2013

USA: Miner who raised safety concerns gets sued
A Kentucky miner who raised safety concerns and got fired from his welding job is now being sued by his former employer and blacklisted by other mines. Reuben Shemwell is now wrapped in a messy legal battle with his former employer, an affiliate of Armstrong Coal, which shut down the mine when the safety regulator stepped in.
Lex18.com • Huffington Post • The Pump Handle • Risks 592
Hazards news, 9 February 2012

UAE: Latest deaths highlight migrants’ plight
The death of at least 22 Asian workers in a road accident has again highlighted the plight of the United Arab Emirates’ largely migrant workforce. A further 24 workers were injured in the 4 February rush hour incident, when a bus transporting workers collided with a lorry carrying construction materials in the Zakhir district of the oasis city of al-Ain.
Saudi Gazette • BBC News Online • HRW news release • Risks 592
Hazards news, 9 February 2012

Britain: Firm fined £1 after workplace death horror
A metal manufacturer in Manchester has been fined just £1 after an employee was killed when a machine weighing half-a-tonne fell from a forklift truck. Bruce Dempsey, 25, from Eccles, was walking alongside the forklift as it moved the machine at Applied Fusion Ltd in Patricroft when it fell and struck him on the head.
HSE news release • Mancunian Matters • Risks 592
Hazards news, 9 February 2012

Britain: Honda UK fined after employee loses fingers
Swindon-based Honda UK has been fined after an employee distracted by questions from managers lost two fingers while polishing a piece of equipment. Swindon Magistrates' Court heard that 55-year-old Cesar Santos had been using an emery cloth to polish a metal component as it rotated on a manual lathe on 11 February 2012.
HSE news release and engineering webpages • Risks 592
Hazards news, 9 February 2012

Britain: Refurb firm fined over fall danger
A West Midlands refurbishment and shopfitting company has been fined after instructing two employees to work at height without any protective measures or relevant roofwork training. The men were working on the roof of a large furniture store in Bridgtown, Cannock, on 26 September 2011 for Fastrac Profiles Limited when they were spotted and photographed by a concerned member of the public.
HSE news release and falls webpages • Risks 592
Hazards news, 9 February 2012

Britain: Privatising search-and-rescue should be stopped
A controversial move to privatise the UK’s search-and-rescue helicopter service should be halted, experts, rescuers and the rescued have warned.
The Guardian • Risks 592
Hazards news, 9 February 2012

Britain: Bad firms made to pay up for HSE’s costs
Firms breaching safety laws have been hit with bills for hundreds of thousands of pounds from the Health and Safety Executive. The first bills under the Fee for Intervention (FFI) scheme total £727,644.81 for visits during the first two months of the scheme. Construction Enquirer • HSE FFI guide • Hazards magazine • Risks 592
Hazards news, 9 February 2012

Britain: Huge decline in safety inspections of ‘high risk’ firms
The number of local authority (LA) proactive safety inspections of high risk ‘category A’ premises has fallen 44 per cent, according to new figures, with 1-in-5 local authorities admitting to undertaking no proactive inspections at all. The overall number of proactive inspections across all premises fell by 77 per cent.
Environmental Health News • HELA Paper H14/01: Inspection/visit Data Collection from Local Authorities, paper considered at HSE’s January 2013 board meeting • Delivering health and safety reform, HSE, 4 February 2013 • DWP news release • Risks 592
Hazards news, 9 February 2012

Britain: Unions berate government on ‘safety costs’ lie
Unions have reacted angrily to a ‘ridiculous’ government claim that safety regulation is a waste of ‘time and money’ for businesses that should be ‘focusing on growth’. They were commenting after on the publication of two reports outlining how the Health and Safety Executive has responded to government demands to reduce official safety oversight and regulation, based on recommendations from government commissioned reviews by former Tory cabinet minister Lord Young and Professor Ragnar Lofstedt.
UNISON news release • DWP news release • Delivering health and safety reform, HSE, 4 February 2013. Reclaiming health and safety for all: a review of progress one year on, Prof Ragnar Lofstedt, DWP, 2013 • Risks 592
Hazards news, 9 February 2012

Britain: What do we want? Here’s our starter for 10
Regular safety inspections, a maximum temperature in the workplace and far greater control of carcinogens are just some of the improvements that the TUC is calling for in a new 10 point safety manifesto. ‘Time for change’ features 10 key recommendations which the TUC believes, if implemented by a future government, could help turn around the UK’s poor health safety record, and prevent many of the 20,000 workplace-related deaths which occur in the UK every year.
TUC news release,Time for change: A trade union manifesto for reclaiming health and safety at work, TUC, February 2013 • Risks 592
Hazards news, 9 February 2012

Bangladesh: Call for ‘real action’ after another fire
The global trade union body for garment workers has called for ‘real action’ after yet another deadly clothing factory fire in Bangladesh. IndustriALL was speaking out after seven workers were killed in a blaze at the Smart Fashion garment factory in Dhaka only two months after the fire at the Tazreen garment factory in November 2012 that claimed 112 lives.
IndustriALL news release • Risks 591
Hazards news, 2 February 2013

Global: Late lessons from early warnings – the sequel
A repeated failure to heed the danger signals presented by new technologies and substances has led to deaths, illness and environmental destruction, a new report had concluded. The second volume of ‘Late lessons from early warnings’, published by the European Environment Agency, gives specific examples of where danger signals have gone unheeded with sometimes devastating consequences and recommends the wider use of the ‘precautionary principle’ to reduce hazards in cases of new and largely untested technologies and chemicals.
Late lessons from early warnings: science, precaution, innovation, EEA, January 2013 • EEA news release • The Guardian • The Pump Handle • Risks 591
Hazards news, 2 February 2013

India: Rajasthan campaigners in stunning silicosis gains
Workplace health campaigners in India are celebrating after the government of Rajasthan agreed to provide medical, monetary and social benefits to around 2.5 million unorganised mine workers affected by silicosis. As well as registering with the mines department, the firms will be required to report on health and safety violations, including any workers affected by silicosis.
Hindustan Times • Risks 591
Hazards news, 2 February 2013

Ireland: Safety agency undermined by cuts
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has expressed ‘serious reservations’ about the capacity of the Health and Safety Authority to deliver on its programme of work, in the face of ongoing budget and staff cuts. Esther Lynch, ICTU legal affairs officer and a member of the HSA board, said the cuts were eroding the Authority’s capacity to “undertake basic oversight of working conditions with workplace inspections falling from 16,000 to 13,700.”
ICTU news release • HSA news release and HSA Strategy Statement 2013–2015 and Programme of Work 2013 • Risks 591
Hazards news, 2 February 2013

USA: Government agency is dangerously close to business
A US government agency intended to assist small businesses is instead operating as an unquestioning promoter of a deadly business lobby wishlist. A report from the independent Center for Effective Government says the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy has been weighing in on issues including scientific assessments of the cancer risks of formaldehyde, styrene, and chromium, regurgitated chemical industry lobbyists talking points.
Center for Effective Government news release and report: Small businesses, public health, and scientific integrity: Whose interests does the Office of Advocacy at the Small Business Administration serve? • Risks 591
Hazards news, 2 February 2013

Britain: Corporate manslaughter cases increasing
The number of new corporate manslaughter cases opened by the Crown Prosecution Service has risen by 40 per cent in a year. There has been an increase in charges laid from 45 in 2011 to 63 in 2012, with three convictions secured since the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 took effect in 2008.
Pinsent Masons news release • Sky News • Risks 591
Hazards news, 2 February 2013

Britain: Basildon Hospital guilty after Legionnaires’ deaths
Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Trust statement has admitted failing to protect the public from deadly Legionnaires’ disease. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted the Trust following a series of cases of the disease, two fatal - James Compton, 74, was the first to die, just after cost-cutting reductions in a water treatment programme came into effect.
Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Trust statement • The Telegraph • BBC News Online • Essex Enquirer • Risks 591
Hazards news, 2 February 2013

USA: BP's record $4bn criminal penalties approved
A US court has approved the biggest criminal penalties deal in US history, given to British oil giant BP as part of a settlement related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. In November 2012, BP said it would pay $4bn (£2.5bn) to the US Department of Justice and agreed to plead guilty to 14 criminal charges.
BP news release • New York Times • BBC News Online • More on BP’s safety record • Risks 591
Hazards news, 2 February 2013

Britain: Companies fined following death of contractor
Steel manufacturer Tata Steel and a specialist contractor have been fined a total of £320,000 for safety failings after a worker was killed by a falling metal bar in Redcar. Kristian Lee Norris, 29, from Middlesbrough, was working for Vesuvius UK Limited to re-line a steelmaking furnace at Teesside Cast Products at the time of the fatal incident on 12 April 2008.
HSE news release and falls webpages • More on the Tata’s (previously Corus) safety record • Risks 591
Hazards news, 2 February 2013

Britain: Council in court over teen’s fireball horror
A London council has been sentenced for a serious safety breach after a 15-year-old girl was engulfed in a fireball from a cooking stove during a school camping expedition. The teenager, then a pupil at East Ham’s Plashet School, was caught in a flashover when another girl poured methylated spirits on to the cooking stove as she believed it was going out.
HSE news release and education safety webpages • Risks 591
Hazards news, 2 February 2013

Britain: Don't let the PM repatriate workers' rights
The UK government’s ‘sinister’ plans for Europe could leave workers without essential workplace rights, the TUC has warned. TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady has called for help from unions across Europe in persuading their governments to resist David Cameron's attempt to 'repatriate' workers' rights.
TUC news release • TUC Touchstone blog • The Guardian • Risks 591
Hazards news, 2 February 2013

Britain: Tube bosses ‘lying’ over safety action, says RMT
Rail union RMT has accused London Underground (LUL) bosses of “lying through their teeth” to play down the impact of industrial action the union says is being taken by train drivers to protect passenger safety on the capital’s Bakerloo line.
RMT news release • Morning Star • Risks 591
Hazards news, 2 February 2013

USA: Business hurt by poor regulatory oversight
A lack of regulatory oversight and the outsourcing of jobs can lead to devastating harm to a company, airline giant Boeing has learned to its cost. A series of safety scares have led to several airlines grounding their Boeing 787 Dreamliners and an official no fly order from US authorities.
SPEEA/IFPTE news release • Boeing news release • The Guardian • Risks 590
Hazards news, 26 January 2013

Pakistan: Compensation for textile fire victims
The German discount clothing chain KiK Textilen has signed a compensation agreement with the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) to make a US$1 million payment to victims of the Ali Enterprises fire in Pakistan. KIK Textilen, one of the company’s major buyers, agreed on 5 January 2013 to make the payment to victims of the September 2012 textile factory fire in which almost 300 workers died.
IndustriALL news release • PILER • Risks 590
Hazards news, 26 January 2013

Britain: Manslaughter charges over mine deaths
Police have charged a manager and the mine firm with the manslaughter of four miners in the Gleision colliery disaster. David Powell, 50, Charles Breslin, 62, Philip Hill, 44, and Garry Jenkins, 39, died in the flooded Swansea Valley mine on 15 September 2011.
South Wales Police statement • CPS statement • Statement from Peter Hain MP • Wales Online • BBC News Online • Risks 590
Hazards news, 26 January 2013

Britain: Horror death in a small firm
The dangers of informal work in small firms has been highlighted by a workplace tragedy. Welder Martyn Heal, who was paid £60 a day cash-in-hand for three days a week, died over four months after being badly burned when his shirt caught light while working on a gate, an inquest heard.
Western Daily Press • The Bristol Post • More on the dangers of precarious work • Risks 590
Hazards news, 26 January 2013

Britain: Worker's hair was ripped out by machine
A company has been fined £60,000 after a young worker was severely injured when her hair was ripped out by poorly guarded machinery. Kelly Nield, 25, of Ellesmere Port, was sorting clothes hangers on a conveyor when her scarf and hair became caught in the chain and sprocket drive of the belt as she bent over to remove accumulated hangers. HSE news release and machine guarding guide • BBC News Online • Daily Mail • Daily Mirror • Risks 590
Hazards news, 26 January 2013

Britain: Hospital employees exposed to ‘deadly’ TB strain
Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust (RBHT) has been fined after employees were exposed to a potentially deadly strain of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (TB) bacteria when a test vial smashed in a specialist laboratory. HSE had issued an enforcement notice for the same laboratory facility in 2002 for failing to ensure it was sealable for disinfection.
HSE news release • Risks 590
Hazards news, 26 January 2013

Britain: Safety warning as prisons set to close
A government prison closure plan to take effect in March 2013 will endanger rehabilitation and will put prison staff, prisoners and visitors at risk, prison officers’ union POA has warned. “Safe secure and decent prisons are non-negotiable and the POA will ensure the health and safety of our membership,” the union said.
POA news release • MoJ news release • BBC News Online • Risks 590
Hazards news, 26 January 2013

Bahrain: Site death blaze building owner arrested
The Bahraini owner of the building where an 11 January blaze killed 13 migrant labourers and injured seven more has been arrested. Officials said an investigation was under way to determine the cause of the fire, which broke out in the overcrowded illegal labour accommodation in the crowded Makharka district of central Manama, the country’s capital.
Khaleej Times • Gulf News • International Islamic News Agency • Risks 589
Hazards news, 19 January 2013

Bangladesh: Call for justice for Tazreen victims
The victims of the Tazreen garment factory fire must get justice and safety lessons of the tragedy must be learned, groups in Bangladesh have said. The conclusion came from a 7 January dialogue session hosted by the Bangladesh Occupational Safety Health and Environment Foundation (OSHE), Asia Monitor Resource Centre (AMRC), and the Asian Network for the Rights of Occupational and Environmental Victims (ANROEV).
AMRC news release • Daily Star • BGMEA 1 January 2013 statement • Risks 589
Hazards news, 19 January 2013

Britain: Wrecked health led to job loss and tiny fines
A Cambridge instrument company and a health and safety consultant have received small fines after a worker’s life was ‘wrecked’ by chemical exposures. Paint sprayer Adam Coventon, 36, suffered irritation to his eyes, breathing difficulties, headaches and lost the ability to concentrate after working with trichloroethylene and isocyanates at Prior Scientific Instruments Ltd in Fulbourn.
HSE news release and COSHH webpages • Risks 589
Hazards news, 19 January 2013

Britain: Fines after asbestos plastic bags cover up
Workers were ordered to tie plastic bags around damaged asbestos insulation boards and carry on working for months during a demolition and refurbishment project in Swansea. Neath Magistrates' Court was told that Wall Colmonoy Ltd had contracted Oaktree Construction to renovate a building opposite its premises in Pontardawe, Swansea, in December 2010.
HSE news release and asbestos webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 589
Hazards news, 19 January 2013

Britain: Suspended jail term after landscaping tragedy
A Staffordshire landscape gardener has been given a suspended prison sentence and 180 hours of unpaid community service, after a man doing him a favour was killed by a falling gate post. Leeson Lavender, 39, was helping Eden Maddocks to install a large oak post at a property in Keele on 20 May 2010.
HSE news release • The Sentinel • Risks 589
Hazards news, 19 January 2013

Britain: Farmer fined following teen’s quad bike death
A farmer on Dartmoor failed to properly maintain a quad bike which was later involved in a collision that caused the death of a teenage apprentice. Plymouth Crown Court heard that 17-year-old Phillip Nyhan was riding the quad given him to use at Runnage Farm, on Dartmoor when he was in collision with a car on a minor road near Postbridge on 7 June 2007.
HSE news release and quad bikes webpage • Plymouth Herald • Risks 589
Hazards news, 19 January 2013

Britain: Teen death exposes government contempt
A teenage apprentice was killed in an horrific workplace incident just a week after David Cameron had claimed safety protection of young workers was “very, very bad news”. On 10 January, Cameron Minshull was trapped in an industrial metal lathe at Zaffar Engineering UK in Bury.
Daily Mail • The Telegraph • FACK news release • BFAWU news report • Risks 589
Hazards news, 19 January 2013

Britain: Safety experts slam short consultations
IOSH, the professional body for UK safety professionals, has welcomed a call by a key government committee for adequate time for consultations on government policy. Ministers are looking at slashing the time allowed for organisations to comment on some proposed law changes, from 12 weeks to as little as two.
IOSH news release • Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee news release and 22nd Report: The Government's new approach to consultation - "Work in Progress" • Risks 589
Hazards news, 19 January 2013

Britain: GMB fury at Fresh Start rights attack
The union GMB has warned a manifesto by an anti-Europe Tory grouping could jeopardise essential health and safety and employment rights. Commenting on the launch this week of the Fresh Start Group’s manifesto, GMB said “it is turning the clock back” on workplace safety and other rights and wants to “flush them away”.
GMB news release • Fresh Start news release and manifesto • Conservative Home blog • The Guardian • Risks 589
Hazards news, 19 January 2013

Britain: Nautilus welcomes target to cut deaths at sea
Seafarers’ union Nautilus has welcomed a call from the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) for the seafarer death rate to be halved over the next two years. Speaking at the opening of the IMO’s first meeting of the year, secretary-general Koji Sekimizu told delegates that his vision to halve the number of lives lost at sea should be a legitimate target for the United Nations agency and for the shipping industry.
Nautilus news release • IMO news release • Risks 589
Hazards news, 19 January 2013

USA: Even after deaths, firms don’t pay
Each year, some 4,500 American workers die on the job and 50,000 perish from occupational diseases. Millions more are hurt and sickened by their jobs, and many others are cheated of wages and abused. The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) says that while the official safety watchdog OSHA trumpets announced penalties as evidence of its commitment to forcing companies to follow the law, it failed to collect any of the original fine in one of every 10 cases since 2001.
Center for Public Integrity ‘Hard Labor’ investigation • AFL-CIO Now blog • Risks 588
Hazards news, 12 January 2013

Britain: Another death fine for UK Power Networks
UK Power Networks has received its second six figure fine in 16 months, following the death of another inadequately trained worker. The latest incident involved the death of electrical engineer John Higgins, who was killed at a substation in Chelmsford in May 2008 when a transformer tap changer exploded.
HSE news release and electricity webpages • Construction Enquirer • Risks 588
Hazards news, 12 January 2013

Britain: Fine after runaway lorry death
A West Midlands logistics company has been fined £300,000 after one of its drivers was killed by a runaway lorry. Russell Homer, 44, had just started his night shift at Nightfreight (GB) Ltd on 7 December 2010.
HSE news release • Risks 588
Hazards news, 12 January 2013

Britain: Director fined after roof fall death
Two Hull firms and a company director have been sentenced for criminal safety failings after a worker died when he fell more than eight metres through a fragile rooflight while cleaning gutters. Kevin Jackson, a father of five, suffered multiple injuries including several fractures of his skull, 15 broken ribs and severe damage to his lungs and other internal organs.
HSE news release and falls webpage •   Construction Enquirer • Risks 588
Hazards news, 12 January 2013

Britain: Steel worker was crushed by a crane
A West Midlands steel company has been fined £120,000 after one of its employees was crushed to death by a 15-tonne crane. Wilfred Williams, 57, was carrying out maintenance on an overhead travelling crane at C Brown & Sons (Steel) Ltd in Dudley when the incident occurred on 27 May 2011
HSE news release • Risks 588
Hazards news, 12 January 2013

China: Pledge to investigate killer blast cover-up
A top official in China has promised a thorough investigation of a deadly tunnel explosion amid calls that he should be held accountable for the week-long cover-up of the incident. Shanxi's acting governor, Li Xiaopeng, said he was angered and shocked by the cover-up of the explosion at the Nannuliangshan railway tunnel in Linfen, which also left five workers injured.
South China Morning Post • Shanghai Daily • BBC News Online • Risks 588
Hazards news, 12 January 2013

Global: Union call to end slaughter of journalists
Last year was one of the bloodiest years for journalists and media workers after recording 121 killings in targeted attacks and cross-fire incidents, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has said. The global union body warned that the “terrible numbers” for 2012 are the result of systematic failure by governments and the United Nations to fulfil their international obligations to protect and enforce journalists’ basic right to life.
IFJ news release and list of journalists and media personnel killed in 2012 • NUJ news release • Risks 588
Hazards news, 12 January 2013

Britain: The deadly consequences of sectors without inspectors
Whether your job is making people better or making plastics, don’t expect a safety inspector to call, a new report has warned. ‘Low life’, published by the workers’ health and safety journal Hazards, says on government orders the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has designated most industrial sectors, from farms to footwear, either too safe for them to bother, or just not worth the effort even if they are shockingly dangerous.
Low life, Hazards online report, January 2013 and lists of sectors without inspectors and the 137 dead who went unprotected • Risks 588
Hazards news, 12 January 2013

Britain: HSE told to block PPE vending machines
Construction union UCATT has written to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) calling on the official safety regulator to prevent personal protective equipment being sold on site through vending machines. An HSE spokesperson told Hazards magazine: “A letter has been received from UCATT - HSE is looking into the matter and will respond to the issues raised shortly.”
UCATT news release • Hazards magazine • HSE frequently asked questions on PPE • Risks 588
Hazards news, 12 January 2013

Britain: UCATT calls for best practice on construction skills
Construction union UCATT has demanded stricter controls and scrutiny of “skills cards” for workers on public sector projects in Scotland to avoid inexperienced workers being hired on dangerous jobs. The union was speaking out after the Scottish government said it would require all construction workers to have a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) skills card when working on public sector projects.
UCATT news release • Scottish government news release • CSCS news release • Morning Star • Risks 588
Hazards news, 12 January 2013

Britain: Rail staff cuts plus network expansion won’t work
Network Rail plans to expand the rail network can’t be done safely while thousands of safety-critical staff are being lost, the union RMT has warned. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “Whilst RMT supports any plans to expand and invest in Britain’s railways to meet the demands identified by Network Rail you cannot seriously expect to safely increase capacity whilst at the same time the government is looking to axe key front-line staff on trains, track and stations.”
RMT news release • ITV News • BBC News Online • Risks 588
Hazards news, 12 January 2013

NEWS ARCHIVES

Enforcement news archive

Deadly business news archive 2012
Deadly business news archive 2011
Deadly business news archive 2010
Deadly business news archive 2009
Deadly business news archive 2008
Deadly business news archive 2007
Deadly business news archive 2006
Deadly business news archive 2005
Deadly business news archive 2002-4